School Lottery Funds Stir Salary Dispute, Worries Teachers, Schools Split on Spending of Lottery Funds

California’s public schools have checks in the mail this week that total $219 million, their first-quarter share from the new state lottery.

But unlike the lottery’s other new million-dollar winners, school officials and teacher union officials have not been jumping for joy. Instead, they have been arguing over who should get the extra money.

“It’s causing a lot of animosity out there,” said Marilyn Bittle, president of the California Teachers Assn., which believes that school boards should add some of the new money to teacher salaries.

“The majority of the boards seem to be dragging their heels,” she said. “They want to decide unilaterally on how it is used” without bargaining with the teachers.

Most school boards want to use the money to buy books, computers and other supplies, rather than for salaries.

Fear of Education Cuts

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, education leaders and lobbyists are worried that well-publicized windfalls for schools will result in the governor and the Legislature cutting back on education budgets in the years ahead.

“In the short run, the dollars are welcome. But in the long run, there’s a potential for it (the lottery) to be a real problem,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara). Because schools are getting lottery money, cities, counties and health care centers think they should be getting a bigger share of the state general fund, he said.

“I’m also concerned that the general public thinks schools are rolling in money,” Hart said. “When we have to go to the voters to pass a school bond measure or when we talk in the Legislature about voting more money to improve the schools, it’s going to be a lot harder because of that perception.”

California will spend an average of $3,290 per child in the public schools, according to the state Department of Education. The first-quarter lottery receipts will add $50 per child to that amount.

The state still trails behind the national average in school spending by an estimated $129 per child and spends about $700 less per child than the major industrial states, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said.

“This will help close the gap, but it won’t do the whole job,” Honig said.

34% Mandated for Education

The lottery proposition passed by the voters in November, 1984, says that at least 34% of the receipts will be used for “instructional purposes” in the public schools, community colleges and state universities. At the end of each quarter, the state Lottery Commission says, it will disburse the money based on the enrollments in the school districts, colleges and universities.

Honig has urged schools to be cautious in spending lottery money for salaries, pointing out that gambling receipts in other lottery states have dropped sharply after the first months.

But just how the lottery money is to be spent is up to each district. The only restriction, set forth in the state proposition, is that the money not be spent on research or for buying land or building new schools.

That is exactly how the Los Angeles district would like to spend it, since it needs a minimum of $850 million over the next five years to build new schools.

“Our No. 1 priority is addressing the problems of overcrowding,” said Harry Handler, superintendent of the Los Angeles school district, which is to receive $30 million in lottery money this week.

Legislative Attempt

Last year, the city school district sponsored a bill in the Legislature to allow schools to use the money for new buildings, a measure that passed the Assembly but died in the Senate.

“We will try again with that this year,” Handler said. Failing that, he said, the district plans to use its lottery money to bus students to less crowded schools or to air-condition schools that are open during summer.

The district recently settled this year’s contract with the United Teachers of Los Angeles, and says it has no plans to add the lottery receipts to teacher paychecks.

The San Diego Unified School District is still bargaining with its teachers, and the availability of the lottery money has proven to be a key stumbling block.

“It’s become a major issue here,” said San Diego School Supt. Tom Payzant. Though it wants to spend two-thirds of the new money on books, classroom equipment or maintenance, the San Diego board offered the teachers 30% of the lottery money as a bonus, in addition to a 6% raise. For the average teacher, the lottery bonus would amount to about $450, Payzant said.

But the San Diego Teachers Assn. says it wants the extra money permanently added to salaries.

“Our position is that it should be a continuing amount, rather than a one-time bonus,” said John Felicitas, executive director of the teachers association.

Teachers File Complaint

In the Conejo Valley Unified School in Ventura County, teachers have filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the school board, laying claim to part of the district’s $1.6-million lottery allocation.

Most school districts around the state settled their teacher contracts earlier in the year, “before anyone knew how much money would be available,” said Richard Odgers, manager of bargaining services for the state teachers association.

Lottery ticket sales have been much higher than anticipated, meaning schools have more money than expected. Early projections were that education would net about $300 million from the lottery for the entire year. First-quarter allocations alone total $272 million.

“I expect it (the lottery money) will be a major bargaining issue next year,” Odgers said.

University Computers

The state universities decided how to spend their money much more quietly. Both the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees decided earlier to use the lottery money to buy computers for students on campus. The nine UC campuses will receive $6.7 million from the first quarter, while the 19 Cal State campuses will divide $12.3 million.

The community colleges will receive $33.5 million in the first payment, with each district deciding how to spend it.

The financially troubled Los Angeles Community College District won’t use the money for any special purpose, spokesman Norm Schneider said, but instead will add the amount to its general operating budget.