Holiday scratch-off tickets are great stocking stuffers that should come with the moral gift of funding schools, but Illinois’ rampant spending prevents most lottery money from ever reaching classrooms.
When lawmakers first debated the Illinois Lottery in 1973, one key argument made in favor of it was helping fund education. They promised “the state share [of lottery revenues] would be used entirely for public schools,” according to The Associated Press at the time.
They broke that promise from Day 1.
The first 10 years of lottery profits went to the state general revenue fund, paying for many things on top of schools. But in 1985, then-Gov. Jim Thompson signed legislation redirecting lottery money to the Common School Fund, the main source of education funding.
Today, lawmakers boast the lottery “funds education,” and they’re technically right. In Illinois, 25% of lottery proceeds “goes to fund public education, infrastructure projects, and other special causes.”
The details tell a different story. In 2019, WBEZ referred to lottery funds for education as a “shell game.”
Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, explains the disingenuous nature of lottery funds.
“If the lottery provides $10 to the school fund, state officials have two choices: they can either spend that much more money on schools than their intended $50 dollars, or they can lower the contribution from the general fund by $10. Illinois officials have taken the second approach,” Mooney said.
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