You and your office pool didn’t win the record-large Powerball this week, but at least all those tickets you bought will help support local schools — right?
Not necessarily.
Use of lottery funds varies by state, but even when states earmark money from ticket sales for education — as many advertise they do — schools don’t always get a financial windfall, experts say.
Read more: How to Watch the $1.5 Billion Powerball Drawing Live
“Revenues generated from lottery have very little or no impact on overall education spending,” said Lucy Dadayan, a senior policy analyst at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, an Albany, New York, think tank.
Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Your Vote Is Safe
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- How the Electoral College Actually Works
- Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
- Column: Fear and Hoping in Ohio
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com