State Lottery Bill To Maximize Public School Funds Passes Senate Unanimously

A bill that would have the state lottery give the maximum amount possible to California public schools was passed unanimously in the Senate on Thursday 36-0.

Senate Bill 818, authored by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa), would require the Director of the California State Lottery to recalculate the optimal prize payout rate at least once every 5 years to keep the funding concurrent with lottery patronization trends. The director would also, by August 2022, conduct a study into finding out what the best prize payout rate would be to maximize the amount of funding allocated to public education each year by the lottery.

The California State Lottery Commission would, in turn, use that rate to set the lottery’s budget each year, beginning in 2023.

Senator Dodd wrote the bill to ensure that California public schools would get the most money possible, especially in the face of state budget emergencies, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted public schooling statewide. State law currently allocates 87% of all money collected by the lottery to go back to the public either through winning payouts or to public schools, with the other 13% going towards lottery operating costs. The amount going to schools has gone up each year since the lottery started in 1985 due to more people playing, with $1.8 billion going to schools in 2019 alone.

Please help put parents in charge of their child’s education by forwarding this article to other parents, family, friends and voters.
Cash Money by Kenny Eliason is licensed under Unsplash unsplash.com

Other Articles

Will Parents Send Kids to School or Keep Them Home if Fresno Teachers Strike?
If Fresno teachers go out on strike next week, parents of Fresno Unified school kids will have to decide whether to send them to school or keep them home.
Read More
The case of Cayla J: Judge to decide if California failed low-income students during Covid
2020 lawsuit gets Alameda County court's approval to go to trial later this year
Read More
Computer science classes: California students lag in access
Five years ago, California embarked on an ambitious plan to bring computer science to all K-12 students, bolstering the state economy and opening doors to promising careers — especially for low-income students and students of color.
Read More
Teachers Have Too Many Extra Responsibilities to Be Effective. Some Ways to Help
Easing the pressure, raising pay and tending to teachers' mental health can bring joy back to the classroom — and the career path.
Read More
Strategic, sustainable residencies can help solve the teacher shortage
Public schools in California are facing historic staffing challenges: rising rates of dissatisfaction and burnout within the current workforce and unprecedented shortages of future teachers, as increased housing and education costs deter potential teachers from entering the field.
Read More
Teachers facing ‘dystopian’ working conditions need new deal on pay – union
Teachers are facing “dystopian levels” of work-related stress and cannot go on much longer without reforms to their pay and conditions, a union has warned.
Read More
Los Angeles Needs More Early Education Teachers. How About Parents?
Darya Carranza had never thought about becoming a teacher. As a child, she had wanted to do something that would help people; she toyed with the idea of becoming a nurse. But when she heard about a program that would cover the cost of tuition to become an associate teacher at a pre-school, it clicked.
Read More
California High School Prepares Students for the Future of Auto Mechanics
A Bay Area high school in San Francisco is taking steps to ensure that there will be enough certified auto technicians and mechanics to keep up with the rising demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
Read More

Get latest news delivered daily!

We will send you breaking news right to your inbox

© 2025 educationopportunity.org, Privacy Policy | FPPC #1460602