More on the State Lootery

Today’s High Point Enterprise features a story on why Gov. Easley did the Texas-Two-Step on the Lootery. My friend and former colleague Paul Johnson writes: “The N.C. Education Lot­tery hasn’t marked its first birth­day, and a spat already is simmering over how proceeds from ticket sales should be used.

“Democratic Gov. Mike Easley rec­ommends changing the way lottery revenue proceeds are distributed in his 2007-08 legislative proposals pre­sented last month to state legislators.

“Easley’s $20.1 billion state budget proposal recommends lowering the percentage of lot­tery proceeds set aside for education to put more money toward prizes for winners. The governor’s office contends that greater prizes would drive up tickets sales and lottery revenue, generating more funding for education overall,” he writes in today’s article.

He also quotes a professor from High Point University, saying: “…changing the way proceeds are used could reignite the lottery as a political issue.”

I still feel as though I’ve been ripped off.

E.C. 🙂

ACLU Suing Florida School District Over Low Graduation Rates

See this editorial from last week’s Palm Beach Post…the American Civil Liberties Union is planning litigation against the Palm Beach Co. (Florida) School District over its dismal graduation rates. Is this what it is coming down to, my friends?

But the paper’s editorial board sings a different tune: “Now, we just need someone to sue the bad parents, lazy students and FCAT-obsessed state,” the editorial says.

FYI, the FCATs are the NCLB-mandated exams in the state of Florida.

Comments?

E.C. 🙂