DARE To Be Effective

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate April 2001

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State Lottery; Key to Educational Success Right now Tennessee public schools are at the worst they have ever been. Low test score averages, damaged equipment, and raising incidents of violence plague Tennessee schools much more than ever before. Not only is there a severe teacher shortage, but many of them are hardly even certified. A number of students are signing contracts to be teachers before even graduating college. Something needs to be done.

A Tennessee state lottery would not only solve all of these problems, but a plethora of others. First of all there would be plenty of money for buildings, better or more transportation to and from school, and probably most importantly more than enough money to recruit more and raise salaries for all teachers in Tennessee. Manuel has reported, "Opponents in Alabama have castigated the Georgia lottery, which has raised nearly $ 3 billion for education since 1993" (1: 2).

Aside from all of the financial benefits, with better accommodated buildings and higher paid teachers, incentive would be at an all time high. Also benefiting from a Tennessee lottery, would ultimately be an increase in state and national test score averages, placing Tennessee high in the academic charts. A state lottery will improve public schools and do all but hurt Tennessee.

Nearly every state in the south has now passed a bill supporting an "educational lottery", raising annual state income 1.74 billion dollars in ticket sales. For public schools nearly 130 million dollars is generated by the year from the lottery. In Georgia if one can Holton 2 maintain a specific grade point average, then he/she can attend college absolutely free; The HOPE Scholarship. It is said "Georgia has gotten regional, even national recognition for the success of the HOPE scholarship"(1: 1), by Manuel. Money for buildings, desks,