Rodney E. Stanley

Can students truly benefit from state lotteries: a look at lottery expenditures towards education in the American states

Abstract State operated lotteries are popular revenue generating devices used by many state governments to supplement per pupil education expenditures with “voluntary” tax dollars. States without lotteries are stipulating that gaming revenues offer a windfall of hope for per pupil funding disparities across the American states. This research suggests that most state operated lotteries are failing to meet policymaker’s expectations as an alternative supplemental source of revenue for education.

Measuring Perceived School Board Effectiveness in Tennessee: The Latest Survey Results

Abstract Local school board effectiveness is an overlooked social phenomenon in educational leadership, according to much of the academic literature. The lack of effectiveness often found in these governing institutions may be one reason why school achievement is stagnant in Tennessee. As school boards are responsible for the direct operations of local school districts. The purpose of this study is to uncover the amount of perceived effectiveness that local school boards in Tennessee possess. The following research question is the basis of this research: are local school boards in Tennessee effective? The data for this study was gathered from a mailed survey to 815 school board members in Tennessee. The findings suggest that school board members perceive themselves as an effective governing body. Policymakers need to caution the generalizability of this study because it only represents those local school districts in Tennessee. Future studies should incorporate all school districts in the south to see if other states are witnessing the same levels of effectiveness as Tennessee.

The lottery, educatiion, and the southern states: a measure of utility in per pupil expenditures among lottery states in the south

State operated lotteries have recently been asserted by public administrators and academicians as panaceas for eradicating revenue disparities existing across public school districts in the American states. The purpose of this research project is to empirically confirm the accusations against attributing credibility to this social intervention program because educational disparity portrays a grave injustice in the U.S. Pooled time series cross sectional analysis is the methodology mechanism employed to test the data in this research project. This study found that lotteries, since their inception, despite expressed high regards, display insufficient significance in generating revenue for educational programs in the southern states. One highly probable reason for the lottery’s insignificant effect in generating educational revenue is the idea of fungibility. One of the major limitations of this study is the small sample size of only using southern states to test the theory that lotteries contribute significantly to educational expenditures in the southern states of America. Using pooled time series cross sectional analysis of all fifty states is a highly recommended approach for future studies concerned with assessing the impact of lotteries on public education expenditures.

Two Years Later: Hurricane Katrina Still Poses Significant Human Resource Problems for Local Governments

This study explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on local government HR management for several cities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The authors interviewed mayors, city managers, chief administrative officers, and HR directors regarding a range of topics, including the recruitment and retention of employees in the post-Katrina environment. Analysis of the interviews shows that the smaller cities and towns on the Gulf Coast continue to struggle with hiring and retaining qualified employees. While some local governments have faired better than others during the recovery period, discussions with city officials have shown that retaining employees has proven difficult and daunting following the catastrophe.

Measuring the impact of casino proceeds on total per pupil expenditures for education in Mississippi

The Mississippi Legislature adopted casino gaming in 1990 for the purpose of curing financial ills that have long plagued the Magnolia state. Local policy makers were given the opportunity to tax the casino industry at 3.2 percent of gaming wins, with an additional .8 percent if these local government stakeholders deemed it necessary to extract additional supplemental revenue from the casino industry. One program designated as a beneficiary of this revenue-generating source was education. This paper borrows research techniques from the lottery literature in an effort to measure the impact of casino gaming dollars on per pupil spending in Mississippi. The conclusions reached by this research suggests that the thirteen school districts receiving casino proceeds for education are significantly benefiting from this supplemental source of revenue.

The recent adoption of the voluntary tax in the volunteer state

The purpose of this research is to explain the adoption of lottery policies among counties in Tennessee. Various socio-demographic variables were measured through the use of logistic regression analysis for determining lottery adoption among all the counties in Tennessee. The results of the logistic regression model suggest that the most significant variables contributing to the adoption of the state lottery in Tennessee are party affiliation of voters and the region of the state in which voters reside. Since the findings of this manuscript are concerned with only the state of Tennessee, one should proceed with caution when trying to generalize these results to other states that have recently adopted a state lottery. The contributions of this research suggest that political and regional indicators are the best predictors in understanding lottery adoption among counties in Tennessee. These findings are consistent with results that have attempted to explain lottery and casino adoption across the American states. In addition, this study contributes to the current literature by suggesting that intercultural political differences may have contributed significantly to the adoption of a state lottery in Tennessee.

Utilizing Logistic Regression for Explaining Lottery Adoption in the Volunteer State

Abstract Objective. The intent of this research is to explain the adoption of lottery policies among counties in Tennessee. Methodology. Various socio-demographic variables are measured through the use of logistic regression analysis for determining lottery adoption among all the counties in Tennessee. Results. The results of the logistic regression model suggest that the most significant variables contributing to the adoption of the state lottery in Tennessee are party affiliation of voters and the region of the state in which voters reside. Limitations. Since the findings of this manuscript are concerned only with the state of Tennessee, one should proceed with caution when trying to generalize these results to other states that have recently adopted a state lottery. Conclusion. The contributions of this research suggest that political and regional indicators are the best predictors in understanding lottery adoption among counties in Tennessee. These findings are consistent with results that have attempted to explain lottery and casino adoption across the American states. In addition, this study contributes to the current literature by suggesting that intercultural political difference may have contributed significantly to the adoption of a state lottery in Tennessee.

Measuring the Impact of Casino Proceeds on Local per Pupil Expenditures in Mississippi

Abstract The Mississippi Legislature adopted casino gaming in 1990 for the purpose of curing financial ills that have traditionally plagued the Magnolia state. Local policymakers were given the opportunity to tax the casino industry at 3.2%, with an additional 0.8% if these local government stakeholders deemed it necessary to extract additional supplemental revenue from the casino industry. One program designated as a beneficiary of this revenue‐generating source was education. The conclusions reached by this research suggests that four school districts receiving casino proceeds for education are significantly benefiting from this supplemental source of revenue.

Lotteries, the american states and the federal government: a formula for perpetual success or inevitable destruction in education policy?

Lotteries have gained immense popularity for enhancing fiscal resources for social intervention programs such as education. However, the fiscal significance of lotteries for accomplishing educational equity across the American states has been empirically challenged. Much of the literature on lotteries suggests that financial reliance on state operated lotteries for educational embellishment may actually hinder the process of educational egalitarianism. Through pooled time series regression analysis, this project intends to demonstrate that states earmarking lottery dollars for education are receiving fewer fiscal allocations for education from the federal government than states opting to by-pass adoption of a lottery for education. The data for this project will include fourteen variables over a twentyyear period covering all fifty states.

Rural education finance and achievement among southern black belt school districts

The state of Tennessee is part of the United States that houses a special set of school districts known as the Black Belt. Named for the black fertile land, utilized for the agricultural industry for hundreds of years in the south, these school districts have the lowest levels of achievement among the one hundred and thirty six school districts in Tennessee. The purpose of this study is to identify just how extensive these achievement discrepancies are between Black Belt school students and non-Black Belt school students by answering the following research question: are Black Belt school students disproportionately scoring lower on college admittance exams (ACT) than students in non-Black Belt school districts? The data for this study was gathered from the Tennessee Report Card for Education over a period of ten years. Pooled time series cross-sectional regression analysis was the datatesting device employed in the study. The findings suggest that Black Belt students are disproportionately scoring lower on college admittance exams compared to non-Black Belt students. Policymakers need to use caution when generalizing this study because it only represents those Black Belt school districts in Tennessee.