Ohio: Education loses

The Gambling Vultures flooded OHIO with dollars after numerous attempts to invade.

The referendum that was passed was written OF, FOR and BY the Gambling Industry.

Gambling [Lottery] revenues do not substitute for sound fiscal policy.

Perception of state lottery support hurts Ohio schools

Jul. 29, 2012


It's been a recurring theme as Ohio's new casinos are rolled out: Public officials are seeing significantly smaller-than-projected profits from voter-approved casinos. Promises and reality, so far, don't measure up.

In some counties, skeptical elected officials actually refrained from building promised casino revenues into their budgets, warily adopting a "let's see how this really sorts out" posture.

Long before casinos were approved for the Buckeye State, taxpayers similarly were enticed with promises of school financial support from promised slices of the state lottery profits pie.

While schools did -- and continue to -- benefit from millions of dollars of lottery revenues each year, the perception of just how far those dollars go to support state public education continues to dog school districts, particularly when it comes time for increased taxpayer support at the polls.

School funding experts and district administrators argue taxpayers have been conditioned to think lottery revenues are a funding panacea for schools across the state.

In fact, lottery funds account for only about 7 percent of all public school funding in Ohio.

We recently reported on higher-than-expected state lottery profits and the assumption on the part of some that those profits would prove a desperately needed windfall for public schools across Ohio.
By law, all Ohio lottery profits must be directed to K-12 public education across the state.

A few weeks ago, the Ohio Lottery Commission announced that sales surpassed $2.7 billion during its fiscal year ending in June. The OLC, it was announced, had a recorded a profit of $771 million, a significant sum above the $717.5 million budgeted for Ohio schools.

Although $50 million is a vast sum of money, the distance it might go in terms of having an effect on public education across the state is quickly put in perspective in light of the millions of dollars it costs to run even a mid-size school district in Ohio.

Having said that, when announcement of the profits was made, and it was clear that many -- including voters facing school ballot issues this year -- would assume the windfall immediately would default to direct school funding, three public education associations stepped in to correct the record for Ohio taxpayers.

Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton pointed out lottery profits above budgeted-for amounts go into a reserve fund that require legislative approval to access.

Excess profits, Charlton pointed out, can be used for special appropriations, or used to make up a gap if lottery contributions fall below projections. In the latter case, the excess profits can serve as a kind of "rainy day fund."

Some might argue that schools' and public associations' race to point out they will not immediately benefit from this year's $50 million lottery profits constitutes complaining; that the $717.5 million promised schools is a fixed budget item, and like any person or entity operating with a budget, it is a sum to be lived within.

The fact remains a great deal of time and energy and promotional efforts are spent spreading the word that every lottery ticket purchased, in the end, is to the benefit of state public education.

For years, voters and taxpayers have been conditioned to think their gambling dollars largely are spent to keep public schools operating.

As a result, lottery ticket purchases have become a substitute for levy support in the minds of too many Ohio voters.

It is time for state legislators to step in and modulate the claims regarding the scale of revenue that lottery profits really constitute for state public education funding -- again, just about 7 percent.

While $717.5 million is a staggering sum, when shared across all Ohio public school systems, that is a drop in the bucket, and a burden largely shouldered by financially disadvantaged Ohioans who tend in greater numbers to play the lottery.

-- The (Newark) Advocate

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20120729/OPINION01/207290312