Va. Schools Get About $22M From Mega Millions Sales

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)- No one in Virginia may have won the Mega Millions jackpot, but lottery officials say the state's public schools were big winners.

During the jackpot run that began after the Jan. 24 drawing and continued until Friday, sales of Mega Millions tickets in Virginia generated nearly $22 million in profit. By law, all of that profit goes to K-12 public schools in Virginia.

In addition, officials say that Virginia retailers that sell lottery tickets earned more than $2.4 million in selling commissions.

The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia's K-12 public schools. The lottery raised more than $444 million for Virginia's public schools in fiscal year 2011. That's about 8% of state funding for public education in Virginia.