State lottery revenue helping teachers buy classroom supplies

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - As lottery ticket sales continue bringing in money for Mississippi, teachers around the state are also seeing positive financial impact.

For fiscal year 2023, total gross sales for the Mississippi Lottery Corporation eclipsed $467 million. On Friday, the corporation announced it had completed its final transfer to the state of the fiscal year, bringing the total to $122,375,631.22.

Of those funds, $42,375,631.22 is being allocated toward the Educational Enhancement Fund (EEF). The money is given to schools and allows teachers to spend more money on classroom necessities and supplies.

“Before the card? We were given a Coke and a smile. We were given about three hundred dollars. Since the state has gotten the lottery, it’s about 700, 720 plus. It’s phenomenal,” said Gulfport High School teacher Heather Spengler. “It is a blessing for all of us in education. It really is amazing to know that the state has our back and they are willing to supply us with things that the students need and we need on a daily basis.”

Before the additional funds through the program, teachers were often forced to spend their own money to fill their classrooms. Spengler told WLOX News, she personally spent hundreds of dollars just getting the bare minimum to make it through the school year. She also sees firsthand the impact the extra dollars are having on teachers who already struggle to make ends meet.

“It takes so much of that pressure off,” she said. “You can see it in their demeanor that they get this card and this relief is taken off them and they have this money they can supply the kids with what they need.”

On the other side of the transaction, local school supply businesses are seeing a boost in sales.

“It’s been hit and miss until the lottery came,” said John Rea, the owner of Gulf Coast Business Furniture & Supply. “The spend is bigger and they tend to spend -- it’s a bigger ticket with us. Every average ticket with a teacher tends to be in the $300 - $400 range. Naturally, when teachers can walk into their classroom, beginning of the year and have a fresh new classroom, it’s very exciting for them.”

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