s/o on my s/o about merit aid - gambling lottery $ - would you take it?

[Hoggirl]

Our state has implemented an eduational lottery. I have no issues with gambling and will have no issues taking lottery $ should my ds attend a school where he can get it. However, if you have an ethical/moral issue with gambling but you live in a state that has an educational lottery, do you take the money?

 

I sure am into opening cans of worms today!

[Miss Marple]

I think it would be difficult to determine the funding source of a state sponsored merit scholarship. For example, here in OK the lottery funds are put into the general educational funds and then doled out to the various state schools. I just read an article that claimed lottery money was used for a "student building" at OU. So all students get the benefit whether they are morally opposed or not to the lottery. So although I'm opposed to the lottery, I would assume my ds is getting some benefit from the $$$.

 

An interesting side note (since I seem to remember that you are in OK as well) is that our lottery was touted as bringing "extra" money into the educational budget; however, the budget was actually cut so that the lottery is now a more primary source of funding. I also read a news article that claimed the same thing about stimulus monies that were given to OK for education. Again, the budget was cut by a similar amount...leading to no net increase in funding.

 

Lottery funding for education, it would seem, has become just what the original advocates of the lottery said it would not become -- a baseline funding stream.

 

"The educational lottery was never intended to replace state funding for education, just be new, additional money," said State Senator Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne. - News on 9 article

[Hoggirl]

I think it would be difficult to determine the funding source of a state sponsored merit scholarship. For example, here in OK the lottery funds are put into the general educational funds and then doled out to the various state schools. I just read an article that claimed lottery money was used for a "student building" at OU. So all students get the benefit whether they are morally opposed or not to the lottery. So although I'm opposed to the lottery, I would assume my ds is getting some benefit from the $$$.

 

An interesting side note (since I seem to remember that you are in OK as well) is that our lottery was touted as bringing "extra" money into the educational budget; however, the budget was actually cut so that the lottery is now a more primary source of funding. I also read a news article that claimed the same thing about stimulus monies that were given to OK for education. Again, the budget was cut by a similar amount...leading to no net increase in funding.

 

Lottery funding for education, it would seem, has become just what the original advocates of the lottery said it would not become -- a baseline funding stream.

 

"The educational lottery was never intended to replace state funding for education, just be new, additional money," said State Senator Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne. - News on 9 article

 

Arkansas.

 

I do not know all the ins and outs of our lottery (it is fairly new), but students at in-state schools (I think public only - again not sure) are eligible to receive $5,000 per year for a four-year institution or $2,500 per year for a two-year institution if they have a certain GPA and a certain ACT score. Criteria is pretty low (IMO). This money is directly from the lottery proceeds. I don't know what else it funds.

 

Interesting point about buildings, etc.!

[Tullia]

On a roll are you? It seems to be my day to stand on a soap box when I ought to be finishing my housework. Listen for the whine...it's too hot to vacuum! :D This is a decision we'll be making this fall now that ds has established his gpa at the CC. Our take is that folks have a right to use their money as they see fit, and once they've voluntarily "donated" it to the state it's public money. That said, you'll wait a long time before you'll see this old gal put so much a a quarter into a slot machine because in addition to moral scruples, I'm cheap. I could not, in good conscience, gamble (unless being in the stock market counts) but I apply the principle that for some things "others may; I may not." Then do my best to leave it at that and not attach any virtue to my decision or look down on someone who chooses differently.

[creekland]

I see lotteries as a form of voluntary taxation. Sure, my kids could benefit and I'd have no qualms. I wouldn't have qualms if the source came from cigarette taxes either - or any voluntary taxation.

[Miss Marple]

Our take is that folks have a right to use their money as they see fit, and once they've voluntarily "donated" it to the state it's public money.

 

I agree. As much as I was against "cash for clunkers", I don't mind at all that some of my friends took advantage of it.

[Chris in VA]

Around here, we call the lottery the "poor man's tax."

 

I originally had qualms about it (moot, because VA doesn't have that kind of funding for college, but FL does, and Dear Niece took advantage) but not any more--as a pp said, gamblers paid for their entertainment and are now paying for others to go to school.

[TravelingChris]

I don't have any issues with lotteries in terms of using the proceeds. I think they are a very poor idea for people who have gambling problems and people who take money they would have used for their kids' food. I probably would never vote for a lottery because of the above problems but I don't see a moral problem with either buying a ticket or using the proceeds. If one is using the lottery as a source of retirement income, there is a problem there but it is probably one of ignorance.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Around here, we call the lottery the "poor man's tax."

 

We call it the stupidity tax.

[Scarlett]

Our state has implemented an eduational lottery. I have no issues with gambling and will have no issues taking lottery $ should my ds attend a school where he can get it. However, if you have an ethical/moral issue with gambling but you live in a state that has an educational lottery, do you take the money?

 

I sure am into opening cans of worms today!

 

I do not gamble in any way shape or form. However, when it is colllected as a tax and distributed to those in need....I would have no problem accepting it. It is part of the huge government structure...much of which I do not personally approve of....but I pay 'Caesars things to Caesar and God's things to God.'

[StephanieZ]

Awww, come on, this is silly.

 

Various state & federal gov'ts accepts taxes on birth control pill sales, alcohol, tobacco, condom sales, guns, prostitution (yup), pornography, gambling, etc, etc.

 

I feel fairly confident guessing that there is something (if not everything) on that list (and unlisted others) that each of us morally opposes.

 

So, following the logic of the OP, would one not accept gov't benefits, period, if you opposed sth on the list? So, not drive on roads? Not accept police or fire services? Not accept medical care at university/teaching hospitals. . . Subsidized medical care/medicaid/food stamps/gov't educational services, attend state (or any!) colleges?

 

As I said, this is silly!

[Tullia]

Well, it's not a completely silly question. In NM to be eligible for the scholarship home schooled students must take the GED even though the law doesn't require it. So far, no one has stepped up to challenge the administrative rule because a lot of influential hs folks in NM regard lottery dollars as tainted money. Normally, I'd be the kind of person to jump into a fight like that but at the time I was too busy with eldercare issues so ds simply took the GED. In TX having the GED on your record can be a hindrance to job applications, though. I did tell ds that he needs to keep good grades and get a degree. He has a homeschool diploma and transcript too.

[Rhonda in TX]

DH and I are opposed to the lottery, but yes, we would take the money if it was available in Texas. By the time it's in the government's hands, it's tax revenue like anything else. Like others have said, there are plenty of taxes based on things that we believe are immoral.

[Alyce]

We don't believe in gambling but we do believe that if someone chooses to it's their right. The lottery is taxed and the money is put into a pool set aside for scholarships. At my husband's work they take up a collection and make a group ticket. The pot they get is usually about $100/mon. When they come around asking if he wants to participate he'll say no but thank you for participating. Sometimes he gets asked why he is thanking them and then he says "you're helping my dd go to school"

[Hoggirl]

Awww, come on, this is silly.

 

Various state & federal gov'ts accepts taxes on birth control pill sales, alcohol, tobacco, condom sales, guns, prostitution (yup), pornography, gambling, etc, etc.

 

I feel fairly confident guessing that there is something (if not everything) on that list (and unlisted others) that each of us morally opposes.

 

So, following the logic of the OP, would one not accept gov't benefits, period, if you opposed sth on the list? So, not drive on roads? Not accept police or fire services? Not accept medical care at university/teaching hospitals. . . Subsidized medical care/medicaid/food stamps/gov't educational services, attend state (or any!) colleges?

 

As I said, this is silly!

 

I guess I also didn't think of it as a voluntary tax, which, of course, is what it is. The reason I posed the question was that this particular line is very direct. It's a lottery scholarship.