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As long as there is a chance that one dollar could wind up in Dr. Grier's hands I'm not buying a ticket. I remain more than willing to by a ticket when I'm in Martinsville, Columbia, Atlanta, etc.

This is a wonderful thing. The citizens of NC are not as dumb as anticipated. The Lottery is a big waste of money. Families in poverty spend 14 times more on lottery tickets than affluent people. I regret the BOE is disappointed, I am overjoyed. For the state to be in the lottery business is one the worse things ever to be put on our citizens. The last time we had something like this was when the state let the local governments go into the ABC store business. Rejoice that people are not buying lottery tickets. It is a bad "investment" and the schools should be teaching young and old that it should be avoided.

Its still a LOT of money. The board should be able to do a lot of good things with it!

I couldnt believe hearing Alan Duncan complaining about it.

So, Taters, do you prefer the way VA spends its lottery money to NC? Or, since we don't live there, maybe we don't care?

I echo the call to educate all students to NOT BUY the lottery tickets, if they want to actually make money work for them. Then they can teach their parents about probability and how poor a bet it is. Then, teach them all how to save money and take advantage of compound interest.

The goal of the lootery, since it purports to be for education, is to put itself out of business. If the people of the state, and our elected representatives, are concerned to spend more on schooling, let's do so without luring through advertising their own citizens, especially the poorest and least educated, into paying more than their fair share. While self-control is open to all, the understanding of statistical realities is not.

20/20 had an example of this on last night. Two plates: one had, say, twelve white jelly beans and three red ones; the other had, oh, seven red but thirty-two whites. People then are told they will be rewarded if they choose a red bean while blindfolded, but that they can only choose from one of the plates. Despite pointing out the actual ratios, the vast majority wanted to choose from the plate with more red beans. Only a ten-year old understood and then went for the better odds. Some adults even said they understood the chances, but instinctually wanted to go for the fuller plate. Easley's revised shell game is the same concept.

Sounds like 20/20 picked stupid participants.

Every member of my family (beginning with my 8 year old) would have understood the odds with the jellybeans.

And yes, he loves the scratch-off games.

Jim,

I think your original question should have been - Do you prefer the way Virginia educates its students to NC??

There's no question that if it weren't for work commitments my family would be living in Virginia.

Jennifer and/or Morgan had a link to a national study a few months ago that compared education in all 50 states.

Virginia was Number 1.

Are Martinsville and Danville, our nearest neighbors to the north, high atop that list? I venture the residents of those cities and many to the west and in the hilly mountain areas are underwriting the skewed results for the suburbs around D.C. Oh, and does D.C. have a lottery?

From what I could tell, the mature, well-dressed adults were of modertaely decent intelligence and income level. Let's face it, our eyes do deceive us, or at least entice us. There's a reason advertising in this country is such a major industry. It works.

And Taters, are you pleased to be underwriting the education of said Virginians? Maybe as a form of self-abnegation and in preparation to move there and take advantage of your own largesse? Actually, I am not even sure if Virginia sepnds its lottery funds on education...didn't look it up yet....yes, I see they tout it as going there.

The only people who unequivocally benefit from lotteries are directors and game-makers. Studies show that very large winners often are left without a penny in a few years, and some owe big time. Others, like a cousin of mine, "lose it" psychologically, too.

Jim:

You are correct that Virginia has a very unequal and uneven education system. Virginia does less than most other states to redistribute education dollars. This leads to some world-class school districts and some horrible school districts.

As for who underwrites whom, you couldn't be more off base. The residents and companies of Northern Virginia pay far, far more in state taxes than they receive back. They underwrite the rest of the state.

The question remains of how we go about adequately and equitably funding schools. The lottery seems like a useful tool in this regard.

Jim, I think what Tatters was trying to say was that he doesn't want any money going into the hands of corrupt, incompetent ding-dongs, and that he would rather at this time give his money to Virginia where he doesn't know for a fact this is what he'd be doing.

Thus, it is okay to fritter one's money and encourage others to do so if one is voluntarily unawares. Seems you'd want to know where your dollars were going in either case. The sheer silliness of playing the lootery isn't affected either way.

I guess in this case ignorance would be bliss

It's interesting to see that Easley is lowering the % of earnings (like lowering taxes) going to education in order to spur higher lottery revenues which might in fact increase education allotments.

Can it be true that our Democratic governor has become, gulp, a Reaganite.

Jim,

Please see https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/

for detailed Virginia district school report cards.

As it turns out, unlike Guilford County, both Danville City and Martinsville City schools made AYP and have 0% Title I improvement schools.

What was your point in comparing these schools to those in Northern Virginia?

Quest,

I would be right behind you.

As for lottery funds, it's called "Counting your chickens before they hatch."

It wasn't a point, Monsieur Numbers; it was a question. I will take your advice and look. Thanks for the address.

Jim, how do you know that numbers is male?

I don't, and apologize if she isn't. Would be quite satsified either way; a stat-loving female is, statistically speaking, more uncommon, in my opinion. Women and men are qual in ability for math, but I know more men who love stats in sports and politics.