Cox Wants To Raise Lottery Ticket Prices To Fund State's Schools.

Kathy Cox



Courtesy Beacon Media

State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox says lottery ticket prices should be raised to help pay for K-12 education in Georgia.


Cox said during an appearance Friday on CNN that hiking the price by just 50 cents per ticket could raise $350 million to help fill a massive hole left by state budget cuts in the last two years. Cox said raising prices would ensure K-12 got money while also preserving funding for the HOPE college scholarship and state's pre-kindergarten program.


The state constitution already allows lottery revenue to go to technology and buildings for elementary and high schools, but lawmakers stopped allotting that money to K-12 in 2003. Cox said the state's education budget has been slashed by nearly $3 billion in the last 19 months.


Cox, a Republican, is running for her third term as state school chief.


A lottery spokeswoman said she would have a comment early next week.