"Supplementing" education was a fundamental reason why Florida voters last fall approved the March
8 slot machine referendum in the first place. In the past two months, however, the education sales pitch
has unwisely been allowed to fade, and with it so has the momentum behind what appeared a sensible
public policy measure.
While pari-mutuel operators cut deals with cities and counties, promising a piece of the gaming purse
to county commissions and city halls, school boards in Broward and Miami-Dade inexplicably watched
from the sidelines. So, their fortunes are now left to an agreement between the pari-mutuels and a
statewide school board group that would distribute gaming proceeds equally among the 67 counties.
That doesn't sound like a great deal for Broward and Miami-Dade school kids. Since businesses in
these counties are the source of the money, it seems reasonable that their school boards should get a
slightly higher take than the rest. Wouldn't that further sweeten the jackpot for local voters?
Now comes word from Tallahassee that the Legislature is mulling a wide range of education-related
uses for the gaming money. Instead of being doled out straight to public schools, money could be
allocated to a broad menu of programs, including private-school vouchers, Bright Futures college
scholarships, teacher pay incentives and a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds.
That's not what many voters were originally led to believe. The constitutional amendment said gaming
money taxed by the state would be used to "supplement" education.
Gaming advocates insisted that meant putting the taxed proceeds in a fund to be equally distributed
among the Florida's school districts. To emphasize their point, they even waved around a "contract"
they signed with the Florida School Board Association providing guarantees that school districts would
get millions of dollars.
There may be good reasons to support the initiative, but the gaming advocates are doing a poor job of
making the case.
They should redouble efforts to line up state lawmakers behind clearly worded legislation that funnels
taxes collected to school districts -- as promised.