The amount Orange County school districts generate from the lottery might not amount to Mega Millions, but they do receive some cash that can help campuses pay for textbooks, software, football uniforms and other miscellaneous needs.
As headlines across the country today announce how just a person or group purchased the single lucky Mega Millions ticket worth nearly $1.6 billion, we wanted to spotlight how much the lottery generates for our local schools.
Last school year, the total lottery proceeds from tickets sales in California, including the Mega Millions, SuperLotto Plus and Scratchers Games, generated $122 million for all OC public schools, colleges and universities, according to California Lottery figures. K-12 schools received the bulk of the cash, about $97 million.
While that might seem like a lot, it only makes up about 2 percent of the funding K-12 schools receive from all local, state and federal sources. That’s just under $200 per student for the school year.
Still, local educators have said in the past that every extra dollar they get to support schools helps in one way or another. Districts use lottery funding to offset lab equipment, laptops, football uniforms, stipends for coaches, software and a variety of other costs.
About 32 cents from every dollar spent in California on the lottery goes to education. About 13 cents goes toward administrative costs, while the rest goes to prizes and jackpots, according to the California Lottery. Revenue for schools from the state lottery has steadily increased each year since the program was created in 1984.
Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue for all OC districts for last school year.
| District or charter school | 2016-17 lottery revenue |
| Advanced Learning Academy | $51,612 |
| Anaheim Elementary | $3,588,005 |
| Anaheim Union High | $6,036,363 |
| Brea-Olinda Unified | $1,145,752 |
| Buena Park SD | $936,721 |
| Capistrano Connections Academy | $936,721 |
| Capistrano Unified | $9,575,669 |
| Centralia SD | $874,721 |
| College and Career Preparatory Academy | $21,813 |
| Community Roots Academy | $127,548 |
| Cypress SD | $782,545 |
| Edward B. Cole Academy | $96,188 |
| El Rancho Charter School | $224,646 |
| El Sol Santa Ana Science and Arts Academy | $182,677 |
| Fountain Valley Elementary | $1,281,765 |
| Fullerton SD | $2,677,349 |
| Fullerton Joint Union High | $2,745,906 |
| Garden Grove Unified | $8,811,582 |
| Huntington Beach City SD | $1,398,970 |
| Huntington Beach Union High | $3,091,254 |
| Irvine Unified | $6,632,837 |
| Journey School | $87,238 |
| La Habra City Elementary | $956,259 |
| Laguna Beach Unified | $588,045 |
| Los Alamitos Unified | $1,975,507 |
| Magnolia SD | $1,257,772 |
| Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Ana | $26,935 |
| Newport-Mesa Unified | $4,227,315 |
| Nova Academy | $73,423 |
| Ocean View SD | $1,704,559 |
| Opportunities for Learning | $18,501 |
| Orange County Educational Arts | $116,922 |
| Orange County High School of the Arts | $441,984 |
| Orange County Department of Education | $1,133,377 |
| Orange Unified | $5,206,948 |
| Oxford Preparatory Academy – South Orange County | $181,531 |
| Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified | $5,088,765 |
| Ralph A. Gates Elementary | $200,821 |
| Saddleback Valley Unified | $5,383,936 |
| Samueli Academy | $97,954 |
| Santa Ana Unified | $10,005,554 |
| Santiago Middle School | $218,061 |
| Savanna SD | $471,847 |
| Tustin Unified | $4,798,137 |
| Vista Heritage Charter Middle | $65,041 |
| Westminster SD | $1,867,456 |
Source: California Lottery