Advocates question how lottery money is being spent inside California schools

SACRAMENTO — Giant jackpots and record-breaking lottery sales are not translating to California classrooms, according to education advocates. 

The lottery is a multi-billion dollar industry that prides itself on partially funding public education. However, Nikki Milevsky — the President of the Sacramento City Teachers Association — questions how the money is being used.

“I know if you ask the average teacher, ‘What’s the lottery funds doing for your classroom?’ The average teacher in Sacramento City certainly could not say where that money goes,” Milevsky said. “So, we don’t see it, it’s somehow spent at the district’s office.”

In the last 30 or so years, $39 billion dollars has been invested in public schools, with the SCTA saying about $8-$9 million of lottery money allocated for their district budget.

“It only ends up being about 1% of the district’s overall budget, some of that money is expected to be spent on instructional material,” Milevsky said. “The rest of the money, we’re not entirely sure where it ends up being spent.”

We reached out to the district for a breakdown of how the money is allocated in Sacramento City Schools but have not heard back. 

In November of 1984, California voters passed Proposition 37 with the purpose of funding public education without raising taxes. In 2000, Proposition 20 further restricted how that money could be spent — outlining non-instructional materials only.

State law did define how it cannot be spent: No funds can be allocated, “for acquisition of real property, construction of facilities, financing of research, or any other non-instructional material.” 

With no clear indication of where the money can be spent, districts have the ability to use their own discretion on where it’s needed.

“It is somewhat difficult to track it through a district’s budget, even for those who pay close attention to a district’s budget,” Milevsky said.

SCTA says, regardless of the funding allocated from the lottery, more resources and investments should be made into teachers and the public education system.

“It’s really important that we fund our public education well and lottery is just this little dribble that doesn’t solve the whole problem,” Milevsky said.