Casino bill may aid rich schools

Submitted by Sondra Peskoe on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 12:00am

The casino legislation is now in conference committee.  One point to reconcile is how to distribute some of these casino revenues to fund public education in communities throughout the Commonwealth.  It's important what the formula will be.

Both the House and Senate versions of the casino legislation would devote 14 percent of all casino taxes to schools. The House bill would distribute that money statewide, based on a formula Massachusetts uses in doling out money to cities and towns.

But a Senate amendment that was overwhelmingly approved last week would put a priority on distributing the casino money to 165 of the state’s 400 school districts that are considered underfunded, based on a plan the state passed five years ago to help suburban districts...Schools in some of the state’s wealthiest communities, including Wellesley, Lexington, and Dover, would get millions of dollars in casino money while some of the poorest districts, including Boston, Brockton, and Holyoke, would get nothing...  [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

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