Ask Lemmy

Most states, there's this association that it supports education, but there's this bizarre scheme where for every lottery dollar that goes into the education budget, $1 from the education budget comes back out into the general fund.

So you end up just robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of thing. It doesn't actually add additional money to these causes that lotteries market themselves as helping.

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/07/25/rebroadcast-the-real-winners-and-losers-in-americas-lottery-obsession

a majority of the 42 states that run lotteries claim the games increase funding for education. But a CBS News investigation has found that most of the lottery sales never make it to a classroom.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-the-lottery-shortchanging-schools/

But when you take away the amount shelled out for prizes (60% on ticket sales) and the cut to the lottery dealers, along with fees and operating expenses, it leaves about one third of the handle ($3.37 billion) for “aid to education”.

Moreover, NYS Assemblyman David DiPietro (R-147th District) claims the money is not always used for education expenses, at least not in the traditional sense.

According to DiPietro, the money on occasion has been “pinched off” by the state, to pay for a variety of items, including attorney’s fees for construction projects and even to pave roads near schools.

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/education/how-much-lottery-money-really-goes-to-education/71-607297164