The California Lottery raised $156.3 million for schools statewide thanks to the record-breaking Powerball jackpot that was finally claimed this week.
This is the highest contribution generated from a single game drawing in lottery history, officials said.
Ticket sales from draw games, like Powerball, Mega Millions, SuperLotto Plus, and Fantasy 5, and unclaimed lottery winnings are given to California public schools.
About 40% of Powerball ticket sales for the record-breaking jackpot, or 88 cents a ticket, was reinvested into California public schools, Jorge De La Cruz, a spokesperson for the California Lottery Office, told KTLA.
From a $2 Powerball ticket, about 50% of the ticket sales is invested into the prize money, around 10% is used to pay for staffing and other operational costs while the rest is allocated for schools.
“Whenever there’s a big prize or even a little one that doesn’t get claimed, that money just goes right back into public education. So as much as we want to see our winners get their money, we’re not too upset when they don’t,” Carolyn Becker, another spokesperson for the California State Lottery, told KTLA.
An average of $46.8 million in prize money goes unclaimed yearly from Lotto Plus, Fantasy 5, Daily 3, Daily 4, Daily Derby, and Hot Spot games.
The amounts vary widely from year to year.
For example, lottery officials said that $75.4 million went unclaimed in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The following fiscal year, $19.5 million was left on the table.
Californians can see how much the lottery office has given to various counties through an interactive map on their website.
Based on the data, Los Angeles County received nearly $121 million in educational funds during the third quarter of the 2021-22 fiscal year. Since 1985, the county has received $10.3 billion.
De La Cruz stated that while the lottery office aims to provide additional funding to public schools statewide, they don’t determine how much school districts receive or what the money is used for.
The State Controller Office determines how the money is dispersed, the lottery website said.
One lucky Californian won the record-breaking $2.04 billion lottery prize California Lottery officials announced Tuesday morning.
A Powerball ticket sold at a convenience store in Altadena, an unincorporated area east of Los Angeles, matched all six numbers in Monday night’s record $2.04 billion jackpot, California Lottery officials announced Tuesday morning.
The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center at 15 W. Woodbury Road.
The winner hasn’t come forward yet, but the store owner, Joe Chahayed, received $1 million for selling the winning ticket.
Chahayed said he would share the money with his children and 11 grandchildren.
Other lottery tickets sold in Gardena, Beaumont, and San Francisco matched five out of the six numbers.
The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball, number 10.