Teachers Want Slot Machines

The state of Maryland’s Teachers Union has announced that they have voted to support the November referendum to legalize slot machines in the state. They say that with the education crisis that they are facing in the state, they need to help the state find ways of increasing the amount of money that they give to the education system.

Senate President Thomas V. Miller had warned them before the vote that the state is facing serious budget cuts and without the slot machines the teachers would be negatively affected. Board president Clara Floyd told the Washington Post that school systems would suffer greatly from the lack of slot machines, as they would have to cut the good teachers and support staff.

Without the slot machines the state’s schools will be looking at outdated facilities and textbooks, material shortages, and larger classes to compensate. The union is planning on launching their own campaign to persuade voters to see the necessity in allowing the slot machines to operate in the state.

With the slot machines projected to bring in somewhere around $600 million annually, the state’s fiscal problems could be solved. Half of the proceeds from the slot machines would go to public schools. Not only would the proceeds from the slot machines themselves go to the schools, but so would money from the licensing fees.

However, opponents say that as the state is willing to sacrifice education without the slot machines, it tells them that it is not a priority to them now, nor will it be in the future. They say that by asking the poor and uneducated, as that is who usually plays the slot machines, to fund education in the state is just too much.


 

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