In Florida the Lottery promoters had to try repeatedly over several years before the issue finally passed. That was a big reason they had to play up the “Help for Education” angle. It was only in this way that they eventually got enough voters to get behind it.
The way it was originally presented the Lottery funds would be a “supplement” to the allocated state funds for schools. This would have the effect of being an increase in funds to the schools.
After it passed and the Lottery funds started going to the schools, the state funds mysteriously began to shrink. The Lottery funds then turned out to be a “replacement” of state funds that then were spent elsewhere.
There were three major effects from this. First, the schools had no more money than before the Lottery was passed. Second, the State Legislators had more money to play with (taken from the allocated school funds), without having to raise taxes. (This was basically a surreptitious tax increase for which no one could be held accountable.) Third, every attempt to raise taxes for the schools for the past 13 years (since the Lottery’s inception) has failed. When people are asked to increase their taxes for education, they say NO, and point to “all that money” that’s coming in from the Lottery.
The net result: the schools are worse off than before the Lottery was passed that was touted to help them.