A poll conducted by Scripps Howard Texas Poll revealed that more Americans see gambling as a favored method of school financing.

Gambling increasingly favored as method of school financing

A recent poll conducted by Scripps Howard Texas Poll revealed that more Americans see gambling as a favored method of school financing, according to an article on www.dailysentinel.com.

The poll showed that a majority of Texans also support other voluntary taxes. A total of 68 percent supported a $1 cigarette tax and 70 percent supported a tax on concert, movie and sports tickets. And 54 percent supported raising the sales tax one-half cent.

As the poll focused on school finance, it was found that 67 percent of respondents say gambling should be considered as a funding source, compared with only 30 percent who favored a statewide property tax or income tax.

"Funding our public schools is the most complex and important issue that state leaders face, and experience has shown that no legislature has successfully addressed the issue in 30 days," the Republican governor said in a statement.

In the poll, a solid majority opposed the use of state-paid vouchers to let some students attend private schools for free. A similar percentage was opposed to creation of a state property tax to support education.

Respondents were evenly divided in their opinions on Texas' share-the-wealth school funding system, known as Robin Hood, which relies heavily on property taxes and requires property wealthy districts to give money to property poor districts. Also, Texans were split on how they view their property taxes, with 48 percent calling them "fair" and 50 percent calling them "unfair."