How the California Lottery's financial contribution benefits education

September 07, 2000

David Gordon and Phyllis Berenbeim answer questions about how money from the California Lottery benefits education and volunteerism in California's schools.

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CALottery: School District Superintendent David Gordon, an administrator familiar with how the California Lottery's financial contribution benefits education. Also, later in our chat, meet Phyllis Berenbeim, an exceptional community volunteer and recipient of the California Lottery's "Hero in Education" award. Welcome, David!

David Gordon: Just to put our district in perspective, we serve 47,000 students within 320 square miles of the southern part of Sacramento County. Sixty-three percent of the students are minority and 23% have a language that is not English. Our total budget is roughly $3 million, and our district is slated to grow to 80,000 students in the next few years, which would make us the fifth largest district in California. I think that should give people a context for our district.

Chicajess: When was the lottery approved?

David Gordon: The lottery was approved on November 6, 1984. Fifty-eight percent approved on Proposition 37.

Footballer: How much of the lottery proceeds are directed to public education?

David Gordon: The lottery law requires at least 34% go to public education.

Luv2Teach: How much has the lottery given schools since its inception?

David Gordon: Over $11 billion.

MerryWidow: Are there prohibitions to what the money can be spent on?

David Gordon: Yes, there are things that the money cannot be spent on. It cannot be spent on construction or capital improvements, or remodeling. Those are the only limitations.

Tim-924: How can I find out how much money my school district has received from the lottery?

David Gordon: I think you can either call the office of the superintendent of your district, or the California Lottery office can provide the information as well.

Quagga: What is the determined student income from the lottery?

David Gordon: The per-student income is about $123 per student - that's an annual figure. It also fluctuates depending on how much people play the lottery. It's fluctuated all the way from $160 per student down to $76 per student. The point of all that is that it's not dependable as an on-going funding source. If we were depending on that to pay people's salaries, we'd have a big problem.

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