South Carolina made history in 2000 when, by a vote of the people, the S.C. Education Lottery was created. When the lottery legislation was enacted by the General Assembly in 2001, the Lottery Commission hit the ground running, on its way to becoming the most cost-effective and profitable new lottery in the United States. Since its inception, approximately $379 million in net lottery proceeds have benefited S.C. education.

While many citizens have become familiar with the instant and draw games offered by the Education Lottery since the Jan. 7, 2002, launch, it is even more important that South Carolinians become familiar with how their lottery dollars are being distributed throughout the state's education system.

The General Assembly has appropriated, for fiscal year 2004, $215 million of net lottery proceeds for education-related expenditures to be disbursed in the following manner:

Lottery-funded K-12 programs make up $72.5 million of the total lottery funds distributed for the current academic year. This appropriation includes increased funding for the Education Accountability Act and will include money to make needed repairs and replacements to our state's aging school bus fleet. But most important, the General Assembly provided funding for much-needed enhancements to our state's K-5 academic programs by working to improve teaching and student achievement in mathematics, reading, science and social studies.

An educated work force is the key for establishing South Carolina as a focal point for industry and commerce in the 21st century. The General Assembly established a total of $93 million for scholarship and grant money for college students. Three lottery-funded scholarships were established: HOPE, LIFE and Palmetto Fellows. These already have become highly competitive and apply to all public and private institutions in South Carolina.

Additionally, S.C. Education Lottery funds provide free education to students at our state's technical colleges and student loan repayment for our troops in the National Guard. To date, more than 100,000 students are attending college on S.C. Education Lottery Scholarships.

The Endowed Chairs Program was created for South Carolina's three research universities: Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina. The program will assist our state in meeting its economic development and research goals. This endowment requires matching funds be raised by the universities. The creation of these endowed positions should attract and retain the best talent at our research institutions. This foundation will work to help develop South Carolina into a true engine of the high-tech research and technology based economy.

Since the founding of our nation, local libraries have been an important place for the people of our communities to gain free access to books and other media. In that spirit, the General Assembly has appropriated approximately 37.3 cents per person in our state to go toward cooperative efforts to improve technology with libraries, schools, local colleges and universities.

The General Assembly was faced with the possibility of ETV shutting down because of not having the capital for digital conversion of its TV network. This lack of funding would cut off access to education programming in our state's classrooms.The Education Lottery and our General Assembly were able to work together to provide the funding to save educational opportunities for the education community in South Carolina.

The distribution of those funds is decided solely by the General Assembly when it faces the task each year of writing our state's budget. The Education Lottery Commission and its staff are dedicated to providing the necessary revenue to fund the education programs and initiatives which are so badly needed in our state.