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A friend has sent you a link to an article found on FlatheadBeacon.com. To read the full text of this article online, click here: http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/a_small_payout_to_classrooms/1427/ ARTICLE EXCERPT: If you’ve ever wondered where the money goes after you buy a Scratch lottery ticket at the gas station, it’s safe to say not much goes to education, which has long been touted in many states as a foremost beneficiary of the lottery system. Lotteries have traditionally been marketed to voters as big moneymakers for public education. The reality, however, is lotteries contribute very little to education in any state, and Montana is no different. Of the 42 states that have a lottery, Montana is one of the lowest contributors to education, though this is partly because the state’s lottery generates so little revenue in the first place. In 1986 voters approved the Montana Lottery with a 69 percent vote to provide a revenue source for the Teachers Retirement Fund, which proponents said would also help hold the line on or reduce property taxes.