Raising Money for Education

In New York State, the slot machine revenue does not fund education in the state; instead New York State has used the state lottery to supplement education for many years. This system happens to be very successful for the state and the lottery manages to fund millions of dollars each year to the public school system.

Part of the reason the state is in such desperate need of funds from any source is, in part, because New York has more than 700 state school districts in need of the revenue from the lottery. And even though the lottery is not nearly as profitable in the long run as slot machines (they are the “cash-cow” of the gambling industry) the lottery does seem to work as a whole at its primary job—raising funds for schools.

But many think that like slot machines, the state lottery may just not be worth the price the citizens pay in increased societal ills and gambling problems. The lottery has only increased in popularity over the last 30 years, but unfortunately the price of lottery tickets has also increased exponentially. Now New Yorkers have the option to spend as much as $20 on one lottery ticket as compared to the $1 price of years past. This means it is much easier to spend a lot of money on just one lottery game—and with prices so high, patrons often don’t even realize how much they are spending.

Some think that both the lottery and slot machines and gambling as a whole has just gotten out of control. Those who criticize the current system believe that if the gambling opportunities are limited by the state, the state may be able to begin collecting more taxes rather than making up the shortages that have appeared in the General Fund in the last few years. But others think bringing in more gambling like additional gaming and slot machines are the key to adding revenue, and so far they seem to be winning as more and more slot machines are added to New York State each month.


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