I am asked questions about the North Carolina Education Lottery on a regular basis. Where does all of that money go? Shouldn’t the lottery be used to build schools? How much actually makes it into the classroom? I am not an expert on the state budget or the lottery, but wanted to share with you some information to address some of these questions and put the lottery in perspective.

The lottery has been in North Carolina for four years. In 2005, Gov. Easley signed into law the North Carolina State Lottery Act (H.1023) and the 2005 Appropriations Act (S.622). The Lottery Act provided a set of guidelines as to how the lottery dollars could be used. Retailers receive a 7 percent commission for selling tickets, and up to 8 percent is spent on administration. At least 50 percent is paid out in prizes, leaving about 35 percent to be transferred into the Education Lottery Fund within the Office of State Budget and Management.

Once the 35 percent is in the Education Lottery Fund, it is distributed to support different programs. Five percent of the fund is taken off the top and placed into a reserve to be used when the lottery proceeds fall short of projected targets. About 50 percent of the remaining funds are used for reduction of class size ratios in early grades and in the four-year old More-at-Four program, accounting for about $193 million or 3.4 percent of the state funded classroom teachers in N.C. Of the remaining funds 40 percent is used for school construction and 10 percent is used for college scholarships for students who qualify for federal Pell grants. School districts can request to draw down the construction money for projects approved by county commissioners.

The lottery does bring in more money for education in North Carolina, but accounts for only 2.3 percent of the total state operating budget for our public schools ($8.3 billion). The public schools in North Carolina serve 1.5 million students. The majority of funding for public schools comes from state funds, but schools are also funded with federal and local allotments.

Since the inception of the lottery around $3.5 million has been allocated to support school construction across Surry County. The heaviest burden for funding school construction is on the shoulders of our county commissioners. As you take a vacation or visit other parts of our state, notice the school buildings you see. You can come back home and be proud of the public school buildings in Surry County. We have some renovations and repairs we would like to see funded, but for the most part, the schools in Mount Airy are in great shape compared to others across North Carolina.

According to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina ranked 44th out of 50 states in money spent per student in public schools. According to the report, public schools in North Carolina spent an average of $7,883 per pupil during the 2006-07 school year, or nearly $2,000 below the national average of $9,666. I find this report disturbing. Education should be a higher priority in our state.

The budget cuts being proposed by the General Assembly this year would cut public school funding by approximately 7.5 percent ($620 million). This proposed cut is more than three times what is generated by the lottery to pay for classroom teachers.

The Education Lottery in North Carolina does support classrooms through teacher allotments, it does support school construction, and scholarships, but it does not solve the funding issues with public education. If North Carolina wants to have a quality education system, education must be a top priority and there must be a variety of revenue streams to support our schools. I am seeing the state shift more of this responsibility over to local governments and am seeing more federal involvement through the latest stimulus plans. Our students deserve the best and I am hopeful elected leaders will prioritize spending and allocate the necessary resources to support a first class education for our children.

Sources: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, U.S. Census, N.C. Education Lottery Headquarters

Dr. Darrin Hartness serves the Mount Airy City Schools as Superintendent.