The Alabama Education Lottery
Last October Alabama voters rejected a referendum for a state education lottery by a vote of 54% to 46%. The proposed education lottery was Governor Don Seigalman's solution to a shortfall of $120 million dollars in the state budget. The budget shortage was created as a result of the United States Supreme Court in Washington declaring Alabama's franchise tax unconstitutional. Without new funding, Alabama would be forced to cut funding to its dysfunctional education and prison systems. After a crusade by church leaders throughout the state, the state education lottery was ultimately defeated. The defeat of the state lottery is but the latest example confirming the church stranglehold over the state government of Alabama. The state education lottery was a good idea that would have brought badly needed funding to Alabama's beleaguered education system. From my vantage point, the state lottery was a good solution to a terrible problem. I have first-hand experience of just how bad Alabama's public school systems are. Underpaid, uninterested teachers in trailers without heat taught many of my high school classes. In the dead of winter, I struggled mostly on keeping warm rather than learning. To keep my grades up, I was forced to learn
With the lottery's defeat, a new solution must be found in reforming Alabama's public school system. Every Sunday, Christian Alabamians attended what seemed to be more like political propaganda rallies than religious meetings. Some have suggested property tax reform as an alternative to a state lottery. I found the argument of the Alabama church leaders largely unfounded. The state education lottery's defeat only served to confirm my belief that Alabama had abandoned its future. Under Georgia's Hope Scholarship program, any high school senior in the state of Georgia maintaining a "B" average can attend any state university tuition free. Preachers quoted the Bible and made church members feel as if it was their Christian duty to vote against the lottery. It is hard for me to imagine how cutbacks have already impacted my former school system. The future of the state of Alabama hinges on the decisions made in the next upcoming months. A predator seeking gain from those it is supposed to protect"(Sznajderman 2) in reference to the state government. Church leaders repeatedly in the month before the lottery's demise said they were working with the state legislature on an alternative to the budget problem. on my own what I failed to learn in class. While property tax reform is a better solution to the budget crisis than the state lottery, I cannot see Alabamians voting to raise their taxes which makes this an unrealistic solution. Along with the state prison system, Alabama schools are facing many cutbacks.
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Acceptance Essays
