The following statement was released by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy about the cancellation of the September 1, 2006 press conference, Funding Discrepancies in Educational Funding.
"A communications professor at James Madison University told me that the only thing worse than a Friday press conference is competing with Mother Nature. I think that this makes Hurricane Ernesto on the Friday before Labor Day the perfect storm," quipped the Rev. C. Douglas Smith, Executive Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy in Richmond, Va.
"Rather than postpone the release of information, we are lifting the 11:00 embargo and provide three options for media:
1) Web site with background information and a copy of the study:
http://www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org/pages/ACT/LotteryStudy/Lottery.html
2) Phone-interview availability with Dr. Lou Rossiter at the College of William and Mary as well as phone availability with Rev. C. Douglas Smith, Executive Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
3) The following release:
The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy released a study today that found that the costs and the benefits of the Virginia Lottery are not evenly distributed throughout the state.
The study analyzed data of both lottery sales and disbursements for public education by the state to Virginia localities. Lottery ticket sales are dedicated to disbursements for education. The amount of funds a locality receives is based on a formula called the Composite Index that determines the portion of a school’s funding that comes from the local government versus that which comes from the state. The index takes into account the resources available to the locality as well as its needs and is intended to disburse more funds to poorer counties with more children.
But the study found that the progressive intentions of the lottery education disbursements were mitigated by the reality that people in poor localities tend to purchase more lottery tickets than affluent localities. The Composite Index does not take into account the amount individual counties and cities produce in revenue through lottery sales when determining education disbursements. As a result, some localities receive the same amount or less in education disbursements than localities with similar needs, but which purchase fewer lottery tickets per resident. The study found that for every $100 in lottery ticket sales per person, some localities will on average only receive $5 back in education disbursements per student.
While the study found that education disbursements were progressive even when lottery sales were taken into account, some less affluent areas were disadvantaged compared to others. Counties with a large proportion of African-Americans in particular received less in education disbursements per student relative to their lottery sales, because heavily African-American localities tended to purchase more tickets per resident than largely white areas.
The study’s authors provide several policy recommendations to make the education disbursement formula more progressive, including: eliminating the scratcher games, which tend to be more popular in less affluent areas; targeting poorer areas with marketing campaigns actually intended to reduce lottery sales; and revising the composite index to remove its more regressive features while continuing to invest in vulnerable communities, particularly in rural Virginia.
The authors ranked Virginia counties based on the ratio of the amount they received in education disbursements per student to the amount they purchased in lottery tickets per resident. The top and bottom ten counties are listed below are bipartisan in their representation in the state assembly and geographically dispersed:
2004 Lottery Disbursements Per Student/Lottery Sales Per Capita by County
Bottom Ten:
- Falls Church
- Fredericksburg
- Alexandria
- Fairfax City
- Goochland
- Mecklenburg
- Danville
- Franklin
- Greensville
- Bristol
Top 10:
- Spotsylvania
- Floyd
- Buchanan
- Russell
- Rockingham
- Augusta
- Bedford
- Albermarle
- Prince George
- Bland
Senator Frank Ruff, in speaking about the study, said "I commend the Virginia Interfaith Center for doing this study quantifying the extent of the economic erosion caused by the Va state lottery. With this knowledge at hand, we as leaders of the Commonwealth have a obligation to carefully evaluate the issue of where the lottery dollars come from and where they are redistributed. Virginia is a very diverse state that has some wealthy counties and some very poor counties. We have a responsibility to each of those localities and the young people of any locality must not suffer because of policy."
Delegate Rosalyn Dance of Petersburg has also expressed interest in the study.
For further information on this study and potential legislation that may follow, please contact the Center's office. 804-643-2474
