OHIO LOTTERY
Many people believe that proceeds from the Ohio Lottery provide schools in the state with substantial revenue each year. In fact, lottery proceeds make up only a small portion of the state's total education dollars. For a typical district in Ohio, the legislature asserts that the lottery pays between 6% and 8% of their expenses. However, the lottery had actually had a negative impact on school funding in the state. In 1975, Ohio put almost 44.5% of every state budget dollar into education. In 1995, that amount had fallen to less than 32%. While lottery dollars were intended to supplement educational funding, they actually supplanted state funds, which were then diverted to other uses. Although lottery proceeds are an additional source of revenue for public schools, they constitute, only a small portion of the local school budget and in no way replace the need to ongoing local support.