So How Much Did California Schools Benefit From Powerball?

Californians lined up for the chance to become a billionaire in Wednesday’s historic $1.5 billion lottery jackpot. One ticket sold in Chino Hills matched all numbers, with the jackpot split three-ways with winners in Tennessee and Florida.

• 3 Winning Powerball Tickets for $1.5 Billion Sold, One in Chino Hills, CA

California’s lottery is self-supporting - no tax dollars go to salaries, administrative costs or jackpots. According to financial statements, 50 percent of your ticket purchase price goes to lottery payouts, 40 percent goes to education with the remainder spent on retailer incentives and administrative costs.

Last fiscal year, $1.39 billion went to schools.

Spending on Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is estimated at $300 million in California, sending a tidy $120 million to education.

“When we do our budgeting, we keep our fingers crossed for a jackpot like this because it really pumps up our numbers for education,”state lottery spokesman Alex Traverso told the LA Times when the jackpot was a mere $900 million.

One quarter of lottery education funds must be spend on books and other instructional materials. The remainder is unrestricted, allowing school districts to spend money on teacher salaries and other needs.

While $1.39 billion is a substantial amount of money, it’s less than five percent of state spending on education.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is critical of the lottery. He told KABC,”Because people believe more of the money is going to public education than, in fact, is. At the end of the day, it’s not insignificant, but it’s hardly significant. I just think it is a crass thing.”

School districts are more enthusiastic. Depending on diverse factors, an extra $150 - $200 per year is spent on every school child in California.

Here’s a breakdown of the distribution of lottery funds to schools:

• K-12th Grade, 80.3%
• Community Colleges, 13.6%
• California State University System, 3.7%
• University of California, 2.2%
• Other Educational Entities, 0.2%

--Photo by Renee Schiavone, Patch Editor