But now it appears the districts hold lottery tickets with only five winning numbers instead of the required six.
Property taxes provide the majority of revenue for schools.
But some folks in Olympia now think the state general fund should benefit from the school districts' PILT windfall - despite payments the counties already have made to the state school fund. Equalizing the money means taking it from local districts and dumping it into the state school fund, where it would be used to support school districts across Washington. The principle behind equalization is to provide a level playing field for all students, rich and poor. Using an equity formula, the state attempts to distribute money to the 296 school districts in a way that allocates roughly the same amount to each student. That means when most districts come into a one-time cash windfall, the money those districts receive is often deducted from the amount of state support the districts receive to ensure parity.