CHARLOTTE — A billion dollars is up for grabs Tuesday night and lottery players are already plotting what they are going to do with it when they win.
A portion of every lottery ticket sale already helps the community. It benefits education. Last year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools got around $11 million for school construction.
Local leaders say it’s nice, but not nearly enough.
‘When we’re talking about high schools that are costing $150, $160 or $170 million, it’s just a drop in the bucket,” CMS Board At-Large member Jennifer De La Jara said.
De La Jara says she appreciates every extra penny but it takes a lot more than just lottery tickets to build schools.
In 2010, it cost $52 million to build Rocky River High School. The total for the new South Relief High School opening in 2024 is nearly triple that.
De La Jara says the lotto money is used by the county to pay down debt.
“It’s not even a quarter of an elementary school,” she said. “So I don’t want the voters and your listeners today to walk away thinking that the N.C. Education Lottery is here to serve in that function.”
In order to fund new construction, CMS leaders are asking the public to approve $2.5 billion in school bonds. The vote will be on the November ballot.
>> Eyewitness News Reporter Joe Bruno is talking to De La Jara and Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell about the school bonds. You can watch his interview on the Political Beat on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
(WATCH BELOW: New elementary schools to open in east Charlotte this year)
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