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Do education lotteries help fund teacher salaries?

Both North Carolina and South Carolina have lotteries that fund education, but how that money is allocated might surprise you.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Teachers across the U.S. have been fighting for pay raises for years, but they've been hard to come by and the need has only gotten worse. 

The North Carolina Education Lottery boasts that money not awarded through prizes will go to education programs, but is there other funding out there that isn't being capitalized on? And does the lottery in South Carolina help cover teacher raises? 

THE QUESTION

Does money from the North Carolina or South Carolina education lotteries go toward teacher salaries?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

This is false.

No, money from neither the North Carolina nor South Carolina education lotteries goes toward teacher salaries.

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WHAT WE FOUND

Denton said in North Carolina, the use of the money raised by the lottery is set by the state budget as approved by the general assembly. He said about 70% of the total annual revenue in 2024 was returned to the public in the form of prizes. The rest of the allocations are spread out, with education getting the second-largest amount. When it comes to money from the lottery going towards education noninstructional support personnel is listed. but noninstructional support personnel does not include teachers.

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On The South Carolina Education Lottery’s website, it says lawmakers in the Palmetto State also make all decisions on how the lottery's net proceeds are appropriated.

The South Carolina Department of Administration lists where lottery appropriations went for the last 10 years. Nowhere is teacher pay mentioned.

According to the South Carolina Department of Education, “Education lottery appropriations are not used for teacher pay. Lottery appropriations predominately go towards scholarships for students to attend institutions of higher education. The General Assembly often times appropriates additional funds for other education needs such as school buses, technology, etc.”

RELATED: All CMS employees won't receive maximum retention bonus

Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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