Capitol Context: How much money does the Texas Lottery send to schools?
With the elections behind us, we’re shifting from providing you with context from the campaign trail to context from the Texas State Capitol as the Texas legislature gets to work. Keep up with Capitol Context this legislative session as we examine bills being debated, the messages we’re hearing from elected leaders and how their votes impact us all.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — With a pair of Texas Lottery jackpots under investigation by the Texas Rangers and with the Lottery Commission's future up for a scheduled review, we wanted to examine just how much money the state lotto actually generates for Texas public schools.
It might not be as much as you might think in the big picture.
According to the lottery's most recent annual report for fiscal year 2023, the majority of the revenue (about 67%) went toward paying out winners. About a quarter of the money (24.5%) went toward Texas education via the Foundation School Fund, which is roughly $2.1 billion.
For more context, we went through Texas Education Agency data and found school funding for 2025 is expected to be more than $66 billion.
With Texas schools required to provide 180 days of instruction per school year, a $2.1 billion contribution from the lottery would help the state cover roughly five-and-a-half days' worth of funding.
According to the Lottery Commission, the lotto has contributed a total of $31.8 billion to the Foundation School Fund since 1997.