Lottery Revenues Help Education

Lottery revenues cover less than 2 percent of the state´s education budget despite advertisements that once hailed it as a major solution to California´s budget woes.

The lottery funneled nearly 1 billion dollars to schools last year. That translates into about 144-dollars per student from the lottery, but only 1-point-8 percent of the state K-12 education budget.

When the lottery started in the mid-1980s, advertisements billed it as a way to help poorly funded schools. Early ads proclaimed, “You win and the schools win too.”

Critics say the marketing campaign made the public think they had solved the school finance problem.

California Lottery spokeswoman Norma Minas said the lottery is not a cure-all but that it´s helped many students have books and supplies.