[Newsboy]

A few things worth mentioning:

-- By law Georgia Lottery proceeds can ONLY be used for two very unique public education programs: Pre-K education and Hope Scholarships (the original constitutional amendment included technology upgrades but that has since been removed). In doing so, the Lottery provides financial book-ends at the beginning of a child's education (Pre-K) and at the end (college).

-- The games themselves are run by the Georgia Lottery Commission, with 50 percent of proceeds for prizes and 30 percent set aside for education. Those funds are administered by an independent agency, the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Per the state constitution, the General Assembly cannot put its hands on the money ... EVER ... at any stage of the process. That was the mistake made in Florida. The Georgia Lottery's successful model has since been duplicated by the TN, SC and NC education lotteries.

-- The popularity of the GA Lottery has also been its biggest challenge. Unprecedented growth in the state's population (about 3 million people since the first drawings began in 1994) has made it difficult for lottery revenue to keep up with demand. As a result, the terms of the scholarships have changed several times -- the minimal requirements to qualify, for example, as well as the amount of funds awarded per student for things like books, fees and housing. Still, the lottery has completely changed the face of higher education (and the economy) in Georgia by compelling the best and brightest students to remain in the state rather than go elsewhere, and raising the bar for admissions across the board. Since 1999, enrollment in the University of System of Georgia has grown from 200,000 to more than 300,000 and is predicted to be 400,000 by the year 2020 -- a growth rate that would not exist without HOPE.

-- Alabama has two separate state budgets -- one for general operations (SGF $1.7 B) and one for schools (ETF $5.5 B) but in Georgia there is just ONE budget ($17.9 B) Of course, education is the largest component of the Georgia state budget. In Georgia, sales tax and personal and corporate income taxes are the main source of state revenue. These funds are collected at the state level and put into one fund, then dispersed to various state agencies at the discretion of the Governor's office. Because Georgia's general fund and education fund are one and the same, this allows the Governor to take from other agencies to shore up the education side of the budget. Though the entire state government has taken a hit, education has taken a lesser hit than it might have had the Governor not had that option. (Another difference to note is that in Georgia, supplemental operations budgets [beyond that derived from tuition] for colleges and universities are determined by the Board of Regents at the state level and not by the local campuses).

* GA FY 2011 STATE BUDGET (including education) = $17.9 billion
Georgia state budget - Sunshine Review
* AL FY 2011 STATE BUDGET (general fund + education trust fund) = $7.2 billion
Alabama state budget - Sunshine Review

>>> Seeing as how the population of GA is about twice that of ALA, not sure why the budget is 2.5 times bigger. But FL's population is roughly twice that of GA and it's budget is $70 billion -- 4 times that of Georgia. I guess there's no constant formula.

--- The biggest difference in school funding in Ga vs. Ala how schools are funded at the local level. In Georgia, this is exclusively by REAL and PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES, based on a rate determined by the local BOEs. In Alabama, where property taxes have historically been very low, schools are primarily funded by local sales and used taxes. While the recession has been a huge blow to all of Georgia school districts -- forced to deal with the reality of budget cuts from the state as well as a drop in revenue as property values and tax digests dropped -- most of them have been able to balance their budgets through a combination of cutting costs and adjusting millage rates to make up the difference. This ability to control the flow of revenue makes it much easier for schools in Georgia, as opposed to Alabama where the school revenue is directly tied to the amount of consumer spending i.e. sales tax collections.

[MiamiRob]

^ok thanks for clearing that up. In Florida we never expected the Lottery to fund education entirely and property taxes is what funds local school districts. Every county is a school district so the county levies school board taxes on properties.
I just find it amazing that Alabama's main funding source for education happens to be sales tax revenues and school districts have to borrow money from banks!

[ATLnSAV]

I am pretty sure that governments are forbidden by law to take out traditional bank loans to pay operation expenses for anything other than short-term emergency situations. For example i know of county school boards in GA that have had to take out 60-day loans in November to meet payroll until January when property tax collections start rolling in (bills go out in Oct usually but arent due until Dec. 31 so there's a gap in revenue.)

Capital outlays (facilities construction) is different obviously -- schools can take out long-term loans backed by municipal bonds. But in Ga nowadays the most popular way to fund new school construction is local ESPLOST -- one penny sales tax. when the project being funded is paid for the penny tax goes away in theory. but most counties in Ga have made it a permanent thing and keep raking in the dough to meet growth demands or just to build bigger and fancier campuses, arts and sports facilities etc.

[southernnaturelover]

Sales tax in Baldwin County was just increased to 10% to help the school situation.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by ATLnSAV

But in Ga nowadays the most popular way to fund new school construction is local ESPLOST -- one penny sales tax. when the project being funded is paid for the penny tax goes away in theory. but most counties in Ga have made it a permanent thing and keep raking in the dough to meet growth demands or just to build bigger and fancier campuses, arts and sports facilities etc.

That's happening here too.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

Sales tax in Baldwin County was just increased to 10% to help the school situation.

is there no hope of alabama ever reforming their tax structure? what is the justification for the state having the nation's lowest property tax rate? To protect the wealthy? seems I recall a governor attempted that a few years back and got soundly trounced in the next election ... Don Singleton maybe?

3-4 years ago there was a move afoot in the GOP-controlled State House to do away with what they termed "run-away" property taxes and go to a sales-tax school funding mechanism like in Alabama, but it was roundly criticized by all sides and never made it out of committee. It was a war of power and wills between GOP Gov. Sonny Perdue and GOP House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who was a total snake and ended up leaving office in disgrace after being exposed in a sex and money scam. He managed to talk a judge friend of his to grant he and his wife an illegal, under-the-table divorce and when it all came out in the papers he attempted suicide ... and failed. Last we heard he was in a metal ward somewhere. Fits, since if he'd gotten his way and turned Georgia's tax system into sales and use based the state would surely be in far worse shape now than it is.

ended up getting caught up in a sex and money scandal and was forced to resign in shame ... upon which time he tried (and failed) to commit suicide. So much for leadership ...

Georgia's current system isn't perfect and in fact there is a commission studying ways to amend and improve it right now, with the goal of making changes during the next legislative session in January. The impetus being that something has got to give because the economy doesn't look like it's going to get much better any time soon.

[Keeper]

Wasn't the reason because AL doesn't have charter schools? That is why they didn't get the Fed money from what I heard on TV. I don't really like Charter schools if they are setup like they are in FL where they punish the school by taking money away from poor performing schools.

[Southlander]

Property taxes DO provide the bulk of funds for Alabama schools. You will find that where there are superior public schools, the local residents have voted for additional property taxes.

BUT - sales taxes are a huge supplement, especially locally.

I have always been against a lottery because I do not trust Alabama politicians to keep their fingers out of money. There are too many ways to leach it off - be it do-nothing jobs for relatives, paying for their trips and luxuries, fees for various "services" or outright draining it into their own bank accounts.

[bluebeard]

Whether schools get money from local sales or local property tax, the key word is local. While sales and property tax have different implications for different people and local economies, ultimately they still mean that the funding of local schools rise and fall in tandem with local economies. Thus, a self-reinforcing cycle can become evident (as a locality becomes richer or poorer, the schools may get more or less funding, thus becoming more or less attractive for those with money, leading to more funds for schools, etc...). Although the Birmingham News also had an article basically saying that per capita funding isn't the sole determinant of quality schools (I believe it was that Birmingham is closer to the top than the bottom of Alabama per capita pupil spending), no doubt funding has an impact. Indeed its arguable that poorer neighborhoods actually need higher funding due to the lack of community and family resources available (increased need for subsidized school lunches, school nurses, security measures, and academic, psychological, drug, and life counselors).

[skinem]

Originally Posted by SacalaitWhisperer

School budgets across the South are in trouble. This is not exclusive to Bama.

School budgets across the Nation are in trouble. It is not exclusive to the South.

I've never seen a "school lottery" in this nation that didn't end up getting siphoned off for other uses. Don't know why Alabama would be any different.

School consolidation is not the answer, either. It can help in some situations, but not across the board. Big schools are not necessarily in the best interest of the students and that is supposed to be what school structure is based upon.