Maryland Teachers Vote Yes for Slots - 03-19-08

March 19 - After a long, and often heated, debate, The Maryland State Teacher's Association (MSTA) a fifteen-member board that represents up to 70,000 teaching professionals in the state, offered its support for a referendum to be held over the expansion of slot machines at the end of the year.

The state of Maryland will go to the polls in November to decide via referendum whether 15,000 new slot machines should be built in five different locations in the area.

A MTSA spokesman said that the debate over the issue took over six hours and only 14 out of the 15 board members cast their vote. He would not elaborate on the specific numbers, only stating that the outcome was in favor of the expansion of Maryland slots.

A spokesman for MTSA said: "It was not an easy decision for them. I don't think anyone feels its the ideal solution, but it is a necessary component of a long-range strategy to get students in public schools access to a great education".? Half the income from the Maryland slots will be directed to education.

In recent years that has been a general shift in the attitude towards the Maryland slots issue, with many more now seeing this as a mainstream form of entertainment. Maryland House Appropriations Chairman, Norman Conway said: "All major organizations in the state are going to take positions one way or another. It's definitely a change in our district from a kind of an anti-position 15 years ago to what I believe is a positive position."

Not everyone is happy about the decision however. A spokesman for one of the state's most vocal anti-gambling crusaders, Maryland Comptroller, Peter Franchcot, had this to say: "Although he [Franchcot] respects their decision, the comptroller is disappointed that MSTA has decided to gamble with the educational funding needs of Maryland's children".

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