This morning I sat down to read my email. In my in-box, I had a personal letter from the Honorable David L. Boren. Well, I'm not really sure how personal it was, but he did sign it. In this letter he proclaims how bad the economy is and how the University is struggling and that we, as faculty and staff, must ride this economic struggle together. To sum up the main point of the letter, we're not getting a raise this year. Although, I am waiting for the announcement of how much additional money Bob Stoops will receive for losing another national championship game!! I've been at OU since 1994. There has always been something under construction there. If the economic times are so bad, then maybe we should stop building new buildings!!!
But the thing that really popped into my mind out of nowhere, was, the Oklahoma Lottery. I mean after all, this is what got Brad Henry elected as governor. The lottery was supposed to be the salvation of our public education system. All of this money was supposed to be pumped into our schools. This money was supposed to be in ADDITION TO what was already being budgeted. The state was not supposed to decrease the budgeted amount of money given to education with the expectation that the lottery would fill the gap. So, if this is the case, then why is our education system still in shambles? Why do we still have some of the lowest paid teachers in the country? Why can I not even get a cost of living raise that will off set the amount that they raised my insurance premiums this year?
I see the problem as being two fold. First, our schools do not properly manage the money that is given to them. While this lottery may not being holding up its end of the bargain in the amount it was able to give, there is some extra money available. Why is it that during the good years the schools did not make provisions to survive the lean years. The economy is like a roller coaster. It will always have its ups and downs. Everyone is screaming about how this is the worst the economy has been since the Great Depression. Doubtful. The problems that do exist were created because people do not know how to live within their means. And financial institutions in their greed, did not know how to say no. The system itself is set up for failure. All government systems I know of base their budgeting strategies on "we gave you money last year. You didn't spend it, so you're not getting as much this year." Institutions and departments are being punished for making sound decisions with their money. I know that within my department, near the end of the fiscal year is the time to start putting in requests to buy any nifty little toy you might want. Because we have to spend our money or we won't get it the next year. Plum foolishness.
The second part of the problem is that how can you expect to fund anything based off of gambling? Even if the lottery generated massive amounts of money for education, you have now created new problems. Gambling addictions and the crime that is associated with any type of addictions. You are breaking apart the foundation of the state, the people that live in it. You are putting forth a temptation that some cannot resist. And ironically enough, the people that gambling seems to target the most are low income folks. Do you really thing Donald Trump plays Powerball, or grabs a scratch off ticket when he stops in his local 7-11? I seriously doubt it. He did not become the wealthy man he is by putting his money in a place that is almost statistically impossible for it to make money. Yet people are doing it every day. If you really wanted to make a difference in public education, take that $1 or $5 or whatever it is you're spending on gambling and just give it to the school your child goes to. At least it won't be wasted (or at least it can be wasted directly by the school instead of the government wasting it).
Well, I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll stop. I think you are somewhat clear on my view of gambling, state sponsored lotteries and so forth. The sad thing is, it's becoming the norm. Good day and God bless.
Dale
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2 comments:
Another problem with the lottery is that as soon as it was passed by the voters, districts began to work thier budgets based on "projected earnings". No money had come in, and already schools are planning the money. So surprise when projected earnings quoted by Henry didn't pan out, everybody screamed for more money.
It would be nice if we could simply opt out of paying taxes for the local schools if our kids don't attend. Let them fail on their own.
Exactly. But the first clue that this was a bad idea, was when you have to set aside a portion of the money raised to be able to deal with the addicts that this will create!
I like your idea though. Why should you have to pay for a poorly run system that you are not using!
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