Voting YES or FOR to Question 1 will keep a promise made to voters that casino revenue would increase school funding instead of being used for other purposes. While casino revenues have been going into the Education Trust Fund—which can only be used for funding public education—nearly the same amount of existing funding has been shifted from education to other parts of the state budget. The result? The new revenue from casinos hasn’t added to existing funding; it has simply maintained the existing levels. Passing Question 1 will stop the budget gimmicks and ensure that casino revenues actually go to [...]

When Ralphie turned in his masterpiece, “What I Want for Christmas” theme essay in the 1983 film, A Christmas Story, he envisioned his teacher, Miss Shields, clutching his essay to her chest and exclaiming: “Oh! The theme I’ve been waiting for all my life. Listen to this sentence: ‘A Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.’ Poetry! Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+!” He daydreamed of his classmates carrying him around on their shoulders, celebrating his enormous accomplishment. Ralphie was seeking, as all students do, validation for his personal vision, hard work, and desires [...]