In November of 2004, Oklahomans voted to institute a state lottery with the beneficiary being education. The way it was sold to us is that the lottery money would add to, not replace existing funds for education. We were told the lottery would not be a mainstream funding for education. We were lied to.
Because we were promised that it would be a supplement, not a replacement, I voted yes. I would have voted against it otherwise. I should have known, given the Oklahoma Legislature’s track record, that I was buying into a lie.
I watched with interest the television ads that tell us that the lottery proceeds for education have exceeded 300 million dollars. It tells us that it could have purchased 75,000 computers, 1.5 million library books and 1,500 school buses. Since my wife is a teacher and the school district she works for, as well as others, are hurting for money. Why, if all this money is coming from the lottery?
I asked. I called the lottery commission to find out how much Muskogee Public Schools received from the lottery. They didn’t know and referred me to the State Board of Education. So, I called them. I was told that the ad was misleading in that the 300 million dollars was over the life of the lottery, not just in one year. I was also told that in FY 2008, we got about $386,000 from the lottery and $316,000 in FY 2009. That’s a good chunk of change, so I asked why my school district is hurting for money if we got that much in lottery funds.
The answer should not have surprised me. She told me that the mainstream funds for education had been cut by more than that and the lottery had become replacement funds. On top of that, the state got federal stimulus money to go toward education. Again, that money was supposed to supplement, not replace funds, but they took the funds from education, put the federal stimulus in and voila! Education suffers. What happens when the federal stimulus dollars are no longer there? If you have ever been in a position to budget, you know that anytime you take money away from a budget, the chances of restoring that money back to its previous level is very, very low.
So, Oklahoma lied to us. They have made the lottery a mainstream funding source for education and cut the budget. They have cut the budget further with federal stimulus money. So, now our schools are hurting. Oklahoma says that education is important, but by these actions, we can see it really isn’t. Oklahoma has one of the best teacher preparation programs in the nation, but when it comes to giving teachers and schools the resources they need to education our children – our future, they fail miserably.
Wake up, Oklahoma, and take our state back. We can have a first-class education system if we hold our legislators accountable. Tell them to put the money back into education, and use the lottery as it was intended. Support Senator Richard Lerblance (D-Hartshorne) as he introduces legislation to hold the state accountable.
A day after I called to get more information, Channel 6 broke a story about the same thing. I was surprised at this happy coincidence as it tells me that more people are wondering the same thing.
Related article: Oklahoma Lottery: Is it Paying Off for Education?
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