South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
A scratch-off swindle: The poor subsidize the rich
Anyone who knows the history of the Florida Lottery knows it’s no surprise that the Bright Futures scholarship program still favors children of wealthier families.
Tallahassee set it up that way — at a time when Democrats were still in charge, by the way.
Twenty-five years ago, the voter-approved lottery had been operating for nearly a decade, and many Floridians knew they had been tricked. Supporters promised that the lottery would bring extras to public schools — computers, science labs, band uniforms, new classes.
It didn’t happen. As lottery revenue for education increased, the Legislature pulled a bait-and-switch on the public and reduced by a similar amount the money for education from other sources, mostly sales taxes.
The people had agreed to legalized statewide gambling and had nothing to show for it. We were sold a pile of scratch-off magic beans by our own elected representatives.
Angry parents, Bright Futures
Parents were angry. Where were the enhancements from what the state still calls the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, where all that lottery money goes? Tallahassee had to find some enhancements to justify the lofty name.
So legislators steered lottery money to places where people could see it: school construction and Bright Futures scholarships. Students whose grades and test scores were high enough got free or reduced tuition and fees at state universities.
The result was predictable. As the Orlando Sentinel reports, poor and minority Floridians play the lottery at a
much higher rate than affluent whites, yet Bright Futures awards go to poor and minority students at much lower rates. That’s not fair.
Six years ago, Sun Sentinel reporting reached similar findings. Regular lottery players live in some of the state’s poorest ZIP codes. Lottery officials direct advertising to minority media outlets that serve those audiences, such as Broward’s Westside Gazette and Spanish-language radio in Miami-Dade County.
The strongest supporters of the original Bright Futures program knew they had created a financial problem. The standards were so low that more students would qualify than the program could pay for. Those standards, however, solved an early political problem: Lots of families would benefit. Even now, high school graduates with a B average get 75% of tuition and fees.
The test score requirement also discriminates against poorer students. Affluent parents can afford to hire tutors for the SAT and ACT. The tutoring company Learner calculates that Florida ranked 40th this year in average SAT scores.
Ideally, Bright Futures would be needbased. But middle- and upper-class parents
considered the scholarships an entitlement, even if they didn’t contribute any money to it, and it’s hard to fault them for that.
Change is hard
In 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush wanted to toughen Bright Futures requirements to cut costs. But his fellow Republicans in the Legislature refused. Two years ago, the Legislature considered reducing awards for students whose majors were tied to low job prospects. That died, too.
Not only do minorities receive disproportionately fewer Bright Futures scholarships, they also get disproportionately fewer slots at our state universities, especially the flagship University of Florida.
You can trace that gap to Bush’s ending of affirmative action in university admissions in 1999. He did so to head off an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative petition. With his brother running for president, Bush feared that the amendment would draw Democratic voters to oppose it.
Bright Futures might be Florida’s most unfair program, and it becomes clearer to see how the lottery itself has evolved.
The lottery contributed $2.4 billion to education in the 2020-21 budget year, up from $1.91 billion the year before. Much of that revenue growth is from newer scratch-off games that offer immediate payments. Those instant gratification games particularly appeal to poorer residents, and Florida markets them as such.
As a result, the imbalance between how much poor families put into the lottery and how much they get back increases. Clergy here and in other states have noted this exploitation.
Shafting the poor
Despite the evidence, we expect no changes. Bright Futures will be one more example of how Florida offers very little to those who have little money.
The best example is the Republican Legislature’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Several Republican-led states, or voters in those states, have done so. Not here.
Resistance isn’t based on facts. Numerous studies show that expanding Medicaid benefits the working poor, hospitals that provide indigent care and the overall economy. The opposition is based purely on partisan politics.
Starting Bright Futures was a bipartisan idea begun under the last elected Democratic governor, Lawton Chiles. But change needs to happen. Especially in this holiday season, we should commit to helping the least among us get the best education possible.