Does the Illinois Lottery pay for education?
Does the Illinois Lottery pay for education? That is the question the Daily Herald answered a few days ago. [Emphasis Mine]
First, an answer. Yes, millions of dollars from losing Illinois Lottery tickets go to fund public education.————————–
The lottery began in 1974, but the money wasn’t specifically earmarked for education until 1985. That year, a new law required all lottery profits go to the state’s schools fund, which helps finance kindergarten through high school public education.
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There was no requirement the lottery money be on top of what was already there. So, as lottery money comes in, it frees up other state tax money to spend elsewhere. How much education gets in the end is up to the annual political whims of state lawmakers and the governor.
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“Thus, while the lottery is a significant source of revenue, it has never been – nor will be – the primary source of school funding,” reads a line on one pamphlet explaining where lottery money goes.
So the lottery funding education is a myth and will remain so. This leaves the bulk of school funding on the backs of homeowners through property taxes. As much as everyone likes to claim property taxes are local control, it is really just a state sanctioned tax to give the appearance of local control.
It’s time to fund the child and quit funding the bureaucracies in the public government schools
