In this file photo, Georgia Gov. Zell Miller is led by lottery president Rebecca Paul to buy the first ticket for the Lotto Georgia game on Friday morning, September 10, 1993. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lottery pleases some critics

Mr. Miller's lottery for education, which narrowly won passage when it was on the ballot in November 1992, has produced a windfall of more than $2.4 billion for schools

Web posted June 21, 1998

By James Salzer
Morris News Service

ATLANTA -- Ten years ago, Zell Miller was a frustrated school reformer without a signature issue to vault him into the Georgia governor's mansion or the money to pay for his grandiose plans.

He wanted to do something really big for education, like Gov. E.D. Rivers, who pushed the state to provide free textbooks in the late 1930s.

Then, on the campaign trail, south Georgians started asking him about a lottery. Florida had recently started one, and Georgians living below the gnat line were flocking to border convenience stores to plunk down their $1 for a chance at millions.

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``I used to never get questions about the lottery. Now, it seemed like one of the first questions they asked out of the box,'' recalled Mr. Miller, a one-time gambling critic.

His political consultant, James Carville, told him polls would show overwhelming support for the lottery. They did, and Mr. Miller had a way to make a name for himself and Georgia.

``I found my pot of gold,'' he said.

In all, Mr. Miller's lottery for education, which narrowly won passage when it was on the ballot in November 1992, has produced a windfall of more than $2.4 billion for schools since its inauguration five years ago.

With all the computer gadgets, college scholarships, enhanced preschool and sparkling campuses, the lottery has amazed even some critics.

``There is a belief that the way the money is gotten is not godly. The way I resolve it is ... I'm not going to discriminate against that money,'' said the Rev. Warren Dillon, a non-denominational minister whose church runs two pre-kindergarten sites in Cobb County. ``I do know that when I have a 4-year-old not having the opportunity to get skills and get comfortable and adjusted in the classroom, and they can do that (with lottery money), that's the way I rationalize it and have peace with my God.''

Records set annually

Georgia Lottery President Rebecca Paul cites the way Georgia spends its proceeds as the top reason sales have increased a record five years running.

``HOPE scholarships, pre-kindergarten and technology have touched so many people's lives,'' said Ms. Paul, who also was the first director of Florida's lottery. ``If you'd have told me the day I was hired we'd do $1.7 billion in sales the fifth year of the lottery, I don't think I would have believed you.''

Click on the graphic above to see a larger version.JOHN W. FLEMING/STAFF

At least 35 percent of Georgia Lottery proceeds go to school programs. The balance goes to payouts and operational costs.

The most popular programs funded by the lottery are two that Mr. Miller often brags about: HOPE scholarships and pre-kindergarten classes for 4-year-olds.

Under HOPE, students with a ``B'' average get free tuition, books and fees at public colleges. Technical school students attend free regardless of their grades. Private college students get $3,000 toward tuition.

While politicians promised HOPE would improve access to college, it coincided with a toughening of entrance standards at Georgia's public colleges and universities.

Enrollment at the state's public colleges has inched upward, not boomed. Instead, the major growth has occurred at the state's technical schools.

Better scores, grades

Meanwhile, the average test scores and grades of entering college freshmen have improved.

For instance, at the University of Georgia, the average high school grade-point average was 3.24 on a 4.0 scale and the average Scholastic Assessment Test score was 1,147 of a possible 1,600 for incoming freshmen in the fall of 1992, the year before the lottery started, according to records.

Last fall, the average GPA was 3.45 and the SAT was 1,174.

Throughout the university system, the average GPA for incoming freshmen went from 2.73 to 2.98 and the average SAT from 967.7 to 1,012.1.

Some have chalked up the higher GPAs to grade inflation. After all, a 3.0 is the equivalent of a ``B'' average, so the average student should get a HOPE.

University System Chancellor Stephen Portch doesn't buy that.

``I'm not going to say there isn't grade inflation at universities, but it's not because of HOPE,'' he said.

Gary Henry, head of the Council for School Performance and Georgia State University's Applied Research Center, has evidence that bolsters Dr. Portch's assertion.

The center has been studying lottery-financed programs for years. Research released this weekend shows that SAT scores have been rising the past four years for students who barely made the B-average cutoff for HOPE.

Had grade inflation occurred, the study would have been expected to find more marginal students qualifying for HOPE scholarships with low SAT scores.

``If grade inflation had occurred in those borderline students, you would have figured their SAT scores would be declining,'' Mr. Henry said. ``We find the opposite results.

While Mr. Miller doesn't like the idea that grade inflation has been connected to HOPE, he added, ``There is something in me that says, `So what?'

``There was a young person who got to experience college for one year. They might not have been able to go without a HOPE.''

Keeping top students

The scholarship is keeping top students in Georgia, Dr. Portch said.

System statistics show, for instance, that the percentage of in-state students accepted at UGA who subsequently enrolled there has increased from 47 percent in 1992 to 57 percent during the past year. The proportion of out-of-state engineering students at Georgia Tech has dropped from 51 percent to 41 percent.

``The real benefits are going to be long-term. Clearly, we're seeing the best and the brightest stay in Georgia,'' Dr. Portch said.

The state may be able to more clearly test the impact of the pre-kindergarten program in the next few years. About 61,000 4-year-olds will take part in the program this fall, at a cost of $3,557 each.

Early studies showed mixed results from the program, which began as an effort to better prepare children from poor families for school.

Critics have called it state-sponsored baby sitting, but Mr. Henry said officials will soon be able to gauge children who went through the program on national standardized exams, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

HOPE and pre-kindergarten have become such beloved entitlements in Georgia that voters are expected to overwhelmingly back a state constitutional amendment this fall to protect them.

Other states have been paying attention and plan to copy Georgia's blueprint.

``Georgia is such an outstanding example of how successful a lottery can be,'' said David Gale, executive director of the Cleveland-based North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.

``I think a lot has to do with the types of programs Georgia lottery dollars support. The college scholarships, the preschool, are very important in today's society.

``It may not convince someone who wouldn't otherwise play to start playing. But I do believe it might encourage some people to say, `Well, I was going to buy one, but I'll buy two.' ''