Virginia Schools Hit Jackpot From Mega Millions Lottery Sales

Virginia public school students win big from Mega Millions.

No one in Virginia may have won the Mega Millions jackpot, but the state's public schools were big winners, lottery officials said.

During the jackpot run that began after the Jan. 24 drawing and continued until Friday, sales of Mega Millions tickets in Virginia generated almost $22 million in profit. By law, all of that profit goes to K-12 public schools in Virginia.

In addition, Virginia retailers that sell lottery tickets earned more than $2.4 million in selling commissions, officials said.

The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia's K-12 public schools. The lottery raised more than $444 million for Virginia's public schools in fiscal year 2011. That's about 8 percent of state funding for public education in Virginia.

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