JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — There was no lucky winner for Monday night’s Powerball drawing, increasing Wednesday night’s jackpot to $1.2 billion.
According to the Missouri Lottery, the Show-Me State has had 31 Powerball jackpot winners. Each time someone buys a ticket, they help fund public schools. Since 1986, more than $7 billion of lottery proceeds have gone to the state, its public education system.
It’s the second-largest prize in Powerball’s 30-year history. As of Tuesday, the jackpot was at $1.2 billion dollars, a cash prize of $596 million.
Back in 1992, Missouri voters passed Amendment 11, setting aside all lottery proceeds to solely benefit public education. Before that, the money went to the state’s general revenue fund. About 4% of the total funding for elementary, secondary and higher education systems come from lottery proceeds, according to the Missouri Lottery.
In 2022, $337 million dollars went to public education from the Missouri Lottery. That number breaks down to $203 million to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and $133 million to the Department of Higher Education. The year before, $331 million from lottery proceeds to public education.
A spokeswoman from DESE said money from the lottery is part of the foundation formula. More lottery funds means that more general revenue dollars are available for the state to use in other ways.
Here are the overall county education totals from the Missouri Lottery:
Jackson County – $50.2 million St. Louis County – $39 millionSt. Louis City – $9.4 million Greene County – $20.7 million Jasper County – $9.8 millionNewton County – $2.6 millionClay County – $5 millionNewton County – $2.6 million
Unlike previous years, the state is fully funding the foundation formula for schools, which includes money to fully fund transportation for schools, something that hasn’t been done in 30 years.
The Missouri Lottery also provides about half of the funding for the state’s A+ Program. In the past week, there have been seven $50,000 winners in Missouri for matching the four white ball numbers and the Powerball.
To find out how much money each individual school district receives from the Missouri Lottery, click here.