Whoever bought Illinois' winning Mega Millions ticket in Friday's drawing isn't the only one cashing out on big bucks.
Illinois' Common School Fund will receive a cash infusion of $31.5 million from ticket sales. The fund for public schools gets the money regardless of when the downstate winner comes forward, according to Illinois Lottery officials.
If the state's winner for whatever reason doesn't come forward, Illinois' school fund would get another $219 million, lotto officials said.
Friday's big ticket was purchased at a convenience store in the town of Red Bud near St. Louis. Other winning tickets were sold in Maryland and Kansas.
Mega Millions players spent $94 million in Illinois last week with about 30 cents from each ticket going to the state's Common School Fund.
That's why many lotto lovers call the game a win-win situation. But some educators point out that $31.5 million compared with the billions of dollars it takes to run the state's public schools isn't a huge amount of money.
