New York lottery helps fund public education, officials say

New York state’s lottery system isn’t just paying out to that one big winner. It also helps fund the state’s public education system, and state officials want to raise awareness of that. A recent survey showed most New Yorkers don’t know that money raised by the lotto goes to the state’s public schools. The state’s gaming operations provided schools with about $3.9 billion in aid last fiscal year. O’Dwyer said aid has steadily climbed as more people are playing the Lottery in recent years.