The rush to win last week’s record-breaking Powerball jackpot also sent extra cash to the state’s education system.
The Oklahoma Lottery will send an extra $9 million to the Education Trust Fund because of the frenzy over a $1.5 billion jackpot. The Oklahoma Lottery Commission thinks its contribution this year will include a $10 million surplus. But it won’t be available until 2017, because the appropriation comes at the beginning of the year, based on an estimate made before any tickets are sold, The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports:
The record Powerball jackpot this month raised $9 million for the state’s education trust fund. In January, the multi-state lottery’s prize grew to $1.58 billion, the largest in the history of the game. The result was a spike in sales. [Oklahoma Lottery Director Rollo] Redburn said typical Powerball sales for a 10-week period would be about $10 million. “For the jackpot run, it was $37 million,” Redburn said. For fiscal year 2015, the lottery provided $60.1 million.
Forty-five percent of lottery proceeds are sent to public schools, 45 percent goes toward higher education, and 10 percent is divided between a school-consolidation fund, teacher pensions, and CareerTech upgrades and scholarships. Oklahoma faces multi-million dollar cuts to the state Department of Education due to a $900 million budget shortfall that’s likely to grow, Denwalt writes:
“We have a significant teacher challenge – about 1,000 emergency certifications,” said Halligan, R-Stillwater. “Every dollar can make a difference in some child’s life.” The chairman of the House education budget committee said he’s excited about having more money to spend on schools. “Certainly, in a time like this, with dire budget consequences, a little extra could will go a long way,” said state Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman. “That could possibly go to help save a teacher or two throughout the state, maybe lessen some of our class sizes.”
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