A lottery is a form of gambling in which participants purchase chances to win a prize, such as money or goods. The winnings are determined by a random drawing of tickets, or numbers, conducted by a state or private organization. The value of the prizes can range from small items to large sums of money. The profits from the sale of tickets are used to pay the winners and cover promotional costs, but a significant percentage is also used as tax revenue for the state, which often funnels a portion into education programs.
The odds of winning the lottery are very slim, but people still play it. Why? The reason has to do with two things: people like to gamble, and they love the idea of being rich. The state-sponsored games that advertise huge jackpots on billboards across the country send a clear message: playing the lottery is a harmless, fun way to pass the time, and it’s a great way to get rich.
In a way, the message has been coded to obscure the true nature of lottery gambling and its regressive impact on poorer people. For example, when the jackpot gets very big and catches people’s attention, it’s likely to boost ticket sales by encouraging the media to highlight that super-sized amount. But the real impact is more subtle: It’s the idea that there’s no limit to how much you can earn if you put a little bit of money into the lottery each week, and that’s a very dangerous message to feed a generation that is growing up in an era of inequality and limited social mobility.
Lottery means any of a variety of techniques to distribute licenses or permits when demand exceeds supply, such as a lottery for units in a subsidized housing block or kindergarten placements at a reputable public school. The most common lotteries are those that offer cash prizes to paying participants.
As a source of government funding, lottery revenues are not as transparent as a regular tax. Consumers generally aren’t aware that a large portion of the proceeds from ticket sales is automatically transferred to the state, which in turn earmarks it for specific purposes. Education is one of these purposes, but the amounts allocated to each county are not readily available. This is a serious issue because it can have the effect of masking the true extent of the problem of education inequity and deprivation.
In California, lottery funds are dispersed by the State Controller’s office to local education agencies based on Average Daily Attendance (ADA) for K-12 and community college districts and full-time enrollment in higher education. Click or tap a county on the map below or enter the name of a county in the search box to view contributions to education in that area. Detailed reports are available for each county and may be downloaded as PDFs. These reports are updated quarterly. The most recent report is the 2018-19 quarterly report.
