Two proposals are worth a serious look

Rocky Mountain News Editorial

      ...Selling the state lottery may well be a great way to get more money into public education - and especially into the State Education Fund, which is sliding toward insolvency....

      ...Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany and Sen. Nancy Spence, both Republicans, are floating an alternative proposal for selling the lottery with a different distribution formula. It would put at least $330 million of the proceeds into the state's permanent school lands trust fund, meaning the interest couldn't be diverted by future legislatures into non-education programs.

      The McElhany-Spence plan is being touted as an alternative to Gov. Bill Ritter's proposal that school districts be allowed to freeze their mill levies, giving them an extra $55 million or more per year and freeing revenue for the struggling State Education Fund...