To fund schools, look to parents and start lottery

Vernon Pechous, Henderson

Saturday, March 19, 2011 | 2:02 a.m.

I keep reading about the school financing situation in our state. I have a couple of suggestions, both of which have been brought up before.

First, I’d like to answer those parents who say they and other like-minded parents wouldn’t mind paying a little more in taxes to keep the same level of education. Well, the answer is simple: Let those parents who have children in school pay extra — like double their taxes now — or charge them for each child they have in school.

I’ve paid for one daughter who attended college in Illinois, and looking at my tax bills all these years, I’ve paid for thousands of children through taxes.

The other answer is simpler: Start a state-run lottery, strictly for education’s benefit.

We would need to find enough politicians, not beholden to the gaming industry, to initiate the passage of such a lottery, however. We would also have to create a watch group of interested parties to ensure the proceeds would be used only for education.