COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- With school funding concerns and high property taxes, viewers asked NBC4 to look into Ohio Lottery payments for schools.
Voters amended the Ohio Constitution in 1987 to ensure all lottery profits go to funding Ohio schools, a guarantee that is still in place today. From 2016 to 2025, the lottery has provided more than $1 billion annually to education funding. However, higher lottery profits do not inherently mean more money for school districts. See previous coverage of school funding in the video player above.
The Ohio Lottery transfers 100% of its profits to a state education fund, but Ohio legislators and the Department of Education and Workforce are responsible for distributing the funding. The state uses a few other revenue sources, pulling most heavily from the General Reserve Fund, to pay for schools. Lottery revenue supplies about 12% of total state funding for schools.
In June, the General Assembly allocated just under $3 billion in lottery funding to schools over the next two years through the biennial state budget. If the lottery provides more revenue than anticipated, it could help schools. The state could also use it to keep school funding the same, freeing up some general fund dollars for other uses.
"Lottery funds are also touted as benefiting schools directly," Olentangy Schools said on its website. "While this is accurate, the Ohio General Assembly generally uses Lottery profits to offset other general funding that would be provided to Ohio school districts."
Lottery profits are also not guaranteed to help public schools. For fiscal year 2026, which began on July 1, Ohio's Lottery Profits Education Fund has already given more than $205 million to schools, 16% of which went directly to charter schools.
AG Dave Yost asks lawmakers to allow executions by nitrogen gasCharter schools -- called community schools in Ohio -- are public, nonprofit, nonreligious schools that receive public funding but are independent from public school districts. Charter schools are authorized by approved educational sponsors and adhere to fewer state standards than traditional districts.
So far in FY26, 83% of lottery funds have gone to general state support for public and charter schools. Lottery profits also supported literacy coaches at four educational service centers, which cost the state $1.5 million. More than $33 million went to grants for facility improvements at various charter schools.
No public schools received individualized payments from lottery funds, but many Ohio charter schools did. KIPP Columbus, a charter school that serves about 2,200 students, has received a lottery fund payment from the state each of the past four months. In all, KIPP Columbus has been paid more than $735,000 this fiscal year for facility improvements.
Ohio casinos also provide some funding for schools, but it is minimal. According to the Department of Taxation, 34% of casino tax dollars go to a state fund and are distributed among districts based on student population size. Remaining casino revenue is used to support counties, law enforcement and other state projects.
OSU’s College of Nursing expands program amid nationwide nursing shortageSports betting works similarly to lottery funds, where money may go to schools but does not guarantee increased funding from the state. Olentangy schools said casino money only supplied about $66 per student in Fiscal Year 2024. Educational policy expert Howard Fleeter said sports betting would bring a statewide average of $75 per pupil, using FY 2024 numbers.
"Unless the legislature chooses to explicitly allocate this funding to school districts on top of the foundation funding formula amounts that each district is already slated to receive, sports betting will not provide a single additional cent to Ohio school district coffers," Fleeter said.
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