Education is a magic word being used to persuade citizens to vote “yes” on Question 1 in the next election. A “yes” vote will put a casino in Oxford County.

We should not be so naive as to believe that the income from the casino will be added to what the state already allocates for education.

About three weeks ago, I saw an advertisement on television that told where the income from the Maine lottery was allocated. In order to get the necessary votes to establish the lottery game, the word “education” was used, yet the advertisement did not list education as one of the benefactors of the lottery income. In fact, education did not receive extra money from the lottery; only what the state appropriated when the budget was prepared.

We should not be so naive as to believe that income from the proposed casino would be added to the funds already allocated in the state’s budget for education purposes. The income will undoubtedly be placed in the general fund and doled out in the usual way, with nothing extra for education.

I am neither for nor against the casino, but I think everyone should know exactly what they are voting for and, in my estimation, it is not for extra funds for education.

Trudy Whitman, Norway