Teachers union calls Amendment 2 a deceptive measure that makes false promises about education funding
St. Louis, Missouri – October 14, 2024 – AFT Missouri, representing 3,500 teachers in St. Louis and Kansas City, has endorsed a NO vote on Amendment 2, calling the measure deceptive.
Amendment 2 was written by out-of-state online gambling corporations, with no input from Missouri educators. These corporations are spending millions of dollars on advertising, deceptively marketing their measure as a funding mechanism for education. In reality, Amendment 2 is a massive expansion of online sports gambling. The out-of-state gambling corporations who wrote the measure stand to make billions of dollars, with no guarantee that a single penny will go to Missouri schools. That’s why so many educators, including AFT Missouri members, are opposed to Amendment 2.
“Amendment 2 is a terrible idea, and one thing you just can’t do is promise the money will go to raise teachers’ salaries. Missouri teachers have heard claims like this before when the lottery was passed,” said Kansas City Federation of Teachers (Local 691) President Jason Roberts. “Amendment 2 is all about online sports betting, not about providing more resources for classrooms or increasing teacher pay. Using teachers as political pawns for a ballot initiative is simply unacceptable.”
The Missouri State Auditor’s official analysis determined that Amendment 2 could result in “zero gaming taxes for sports wagering,” because gambling operators would be permitted to deduct promotional credits and free play, as well as federal taxes. Zero gaming taxes for sports wagering means zero dollars for schools, not the “hundreds of millions” promised by the proponents.
“Our state’s teachers, students, and communities deserve much better than these empty promises,” said American Federation of Teachers St. Louis (Local 420) President Ray Cummings. “The proponents of Amendment 2 are running deceptive television ads, saying that teacher pay will go up if this measure passes. But there isn’t even language in Amendment 2 that guarantees additional dollars will go to education. These folks are using students and teachers as a gimmick to pass online sports gambling while giving themselves huge tax deductions. We’re not falling for it, and we encourage voters to vote NO on the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment.”
AFT Missouri joins a growing coalition of organizations and individuals encouraging a NO vote on Amendment 2.