In November, voters approved a ballot initiative that both repealed loss limits and raised taxes at Missouri casinos. The new money had been designated solely to boost the K through 12 education formula.

But now some lawmakers are proposing creative alternatives because the school funding formula leaves some districts out.

Less than a week away from the new legislative session, some lawmakers are signaling they may try to ignore the the exact language of the ballot initiative.

This fall, advocates of Proposition A promoted the initiative as a "tamper proof fund." They ran ads saying politicians wouldn't' be able to "shuffle the money around."

But that shuffling has already begun.

Raising teacher salaries, boosting special education and gifted programs and helping cash-strapped universities are all ideas being floated as better ways to spend the new revenue generated from casinos.

"If there were some flexibility there, this is going to be a very tough budget crunch year," said Nixa State Representative Jay Wasson.

Lawmakers obviously always have the right to change the law, but Wasson said he isn't sure how much leverage lawmakers have to tinker with a voter-approved measure like Prop A.

"If it's written that way as I suspect it is, that's where it'll have to go. I don't think we'll have any choice in that," said Wasson.

Still, some legislators argue that as long as it's going to some type of educational purpose, voters won't care if the money is diverted from the obscure sounding "funding formula."

The new legislative session begins next Wednesday.