Half of the billion dollars raised by the NC Education Lottery goes to building and repairing public schools
Published on Thursday, August 22, 2024, 00:00
- Pictured: the new, state-of-the-art Tar Heel School in Bladen County, which opened in January, replacing a school built in 1925. Money raised through the lottery funded a $40 million state grant that covers most of the cost of the $47 million school. – Submitted
RALEIGH — For the second year in a row The NC Education Lottery raised over $1 billion in a single year, more than half of which went toward building and repairing public schools in the counties.
The financial aid to North Carolina districts results from record revenues for education from lottery ticket sales in fiscal year 2024. At the end of the fiscal year, based on final but unaudited results, the lottery recorded new records in both sales and the amount of money raised for education, including:
- Record sales of $5.4 billion.
- Record $1.09 billion raised for education.
Mark Michalko, executive director of the NC Education Lottery, said investing lottery money in building new schools is the most visible sign of how the lottery benefits communities across the state.
“New schools are helping North Carolina students get ahead,” Michalko said. “Across the state, parents and educators are telling us stories about the impact of the new schools. They say the new schools and classrooms are creating spaces where students enjoy coming to school every day.”
In fiscal year 2024, the lottery not only met the state’s $931 million goal, but exceeded it by $161 million. In total, more than half of the $1 billion raised last fiscal year will go to districts to build new schools and repair older ones. As set by the North Carolina General Assembly in the state budget:
- $254 million went to a state fund that provides grants to counties to build new schools. That fund will also receive most of the additional $161 million raised through the lottery.
- $100 million was divided among all 100 counties, with each county receiving an allocation based on its size. For example, Wake County, which has the largest school system, received more than $11 million for school construction.
- $50 million went to a state repair and renovation fund, and each county received an additional $500,000.
In addition to supporting the construction and repair of schools, the funds raised through the lottery last year enabled:
- Scholarships and grants based on financial need have made college more affordable. The new Next NC Scholarship provides at least $3,000 to community college students and at least $5,000 to state university students toward tuition and fees.
- Supported each school system with the costs of school support personnel and transportation.
- Providing free, academic preschool for at-risk four-year-olds in the NC Pre-K program.
Several districts in North Carolina have shared stories about the impact the new schools are having on their communities. These include the new Granite Falls Middle School in Caldwell County, the new Hayesville Elementary School in Clay County, the new Tar Heel School in Bladen County, the new Northwest Harnett Elementary School in Harnett County, the new Cherokee Schools of Innovation in Cherokee County, and the new Wilson Academy of Applied Technology in Wilson County. Click on the links to see and hear about the impact these new schools are having on education.
By the end of the year, the lottery had surpassed the $11 billion mark it had raised since its launch in 2006.
