THE CALIFORNIA LOTTERY: CALIFORNIA PUBLIC

EDUCATION IS SCAMMED AGAIN!

       The California lottery was approved by California voters in

1984, as Proposition 37.

       Although it faced strong opposition from voters who claimed

California was not ready for “legalized gambling,” proponents

of the legislation were successful in getting the act passed based on

the promise of lottery revenues being used to support a critically

underfunded public education system. Included in the legislation,

was a requirement that 34% of lottery revenues were to go directly

to education, “supplementing, not replacing other funds provided

by the state and federal government. It was estimated that $1.1

billion per year would be generated by the lottery for education.

         The lottery has now been in existence for over 27 years,

equating to $3 billion earmarked for education. But, because of

California’s mis-managed budget, all of the revenues generated by the

lottery have gone directly to the state’s general fund to “bail-out”

our budget ignorant leaders. And because education funding comes out

of the general fund; it appears on paper, that lottery revenues are being

used for education. But, because education sits low on budget priorities,

with social services and other government services “dipping” first,

education is often left holding an empty bag, scrambling around like a

low-income family to try and make ends meet.

REFERENCE: www.ca.gov.lottery/education