ATLANTA, Ga. — The Georgia Lottery has transferred a record-breaking $1,097,567,000 to education for the 2016 fiscal year.
Lottery officials said this is the first time the Georgia Lottery has transferred more than $1 billion in a single fiscal year, and it is the largest educational transfer in the lottery's 23-year history.
"We appreciate the commitment from our dedicated lottery and COAM retailers, players, vendor partners and employees. We are grateful to our board of directors for their leadership and guidance," said Debbie D. Alford, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery. "We're proud to have reached the extraordinary milestone of raising over $1 billion for HOPE and Pre-K."
Profits surpassed last year's record by more than $117 million.
The Georgia Lottery said the total raised for educational programs in the state is more than $17.6 billion since the lottery's inception in 1993.
"Educational programs funded by the lottery continue to lay the groundwork for Georgia's evolving and growing workforce," Gov. Nathan Deal said. "FY 2016's record-breaking profits will continue to help each child in Georgia attain a quality education from start to finish."
Lottery officials said that all Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE scholarship program and Georgia's Pre-K program.
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Thanks to Konane for the tip.
<snip> Todd youre up early in the morning posting news stories. Guess the early bird gets the worm.
That a lot of money. Way to go Georgia!
this is a horror story. hard to believe that residents and players of the georgia lottery lost this much so that they could do this. appears they are not paying out enough money to the players. inconceivable amount of money that they doled out to this cause. they must have the best education system in the country now. the players should picket lottery headquarters and demand better payouts or stop playing here.
put some respek on ga lottery
They pay well. Great payouts..
Best in america
GA isn't the best lottery America, other lotteries in the USA have had that title for years. You are correct though that they do have some great games with huge payouts.
Now for the unopened can of worms. Anyone in Alabama reading about the Georgia lottery??? Many residents no doubt will drive to FL, GA or TN to get their $390 million Powerball ticket...ha ha!
Let's find a cure for cancer!
It's great to see a Lottery that has it's players in mind, rather than seeing the Lottery as their personal Cash Cow.
I would like to see more States follow Georgia's simple rule of thumb, More winners albeit Lottery/scratch offs, means more money spent.
Congratulations on your achievements.!
At least I know I have paid for my 3 granddaughters' pre k with my contributions. I don't feel bad but it would be a perk when I win a large Jackpot!! I claim it right now!!!
I like Georgia Lottery President and CEO Debbie D. Alford's middle name. It is probably her maiden last name. The Peach State definitely has a winner of a lottery organization.
When the voters of Alabama vote for a lottery then it could affect Georgia's Lottery bottom line.
They are the best in the USA.I love driving there to play...They give back to the players.Its a thrill seeking drive,beautiful country over the ridge,a subway sandwich at the pilot,sit back scratch off and win...what a day in the Georgia Lottery World.
Who says poor people don't pay taxes?
Where do poor people get the money to play the lottery?
Education or liberal indoctrination? For further proof...Read some of Kingofearths posts.
Good Job Georgia Lottery
good job? fleecing it's players in order to give that much to education (which is doubtful) where do you think all that money came from. hint: players lost it because of skimpy payouts.
Let's hope that GA uses the money to improve the schools, so a high school grad knows how to spell "respect".
They work for it in GA-no welfare or food stamps for the working poor GA Americans; only foreigners. Sounds like a nice amount but Georgia is almost at the bottom of the 50 states rank in Education. Where is the money going? With all that money all our kids should be at the top no matter what their economic status is. My opinion only!
They claim ALL the money goes to Special education, HOPE scholarships and pre-K. Sounds to me that the bulk of that might be administrative cost as I agree with you Georgia's children do rank near the bottom in education.
Recently many of Georgia's school administrative personnel and teachers were indicted on testing fraud charges in order to receive more federal funding to line their pockets.
Educating their kids is not the primary goal of Georgia's school administration, fattening their bank account is.
We have corruption like this nation wide and they need to start cracking down because as a whole the united States spends more per child than any other nation yet our kids are far behind intellectually than most other developed nations.
Deo-nonfortuno can u answer this question. How do you get money to play the lottery.
Congratulations to them!
it won't. just don't believe everything you read. probably 700 million went to administrative costs and the rest went to education. no way over a billion dollars went to it. georgia a fraudulent state and people running it are known liars.
there are 181 school districts in georgia. that would be about 5.2 million for each district for their "hope and kindergarten programs". that check those two smiling corrupt officials are holding is not real. what the people of georgia need to see is a breakdown of that money and precisely outlined on how it was spent. of course they won't disclose that information citing privacy issues. there will be some districts looking for the rest of their 5.2 million but they won't be too vocal as to not be left out completely on the next lottery windfall. where really did the money go.