By Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times

There’s no way of telling how many people might lay claim to a $900-million Powerball jackpot Saturday night, but lottery officials insist that California schools will be among the winners.

Thanks to a California law that requires at least $1 billion of the state’s education funding to come from lottery revenues — or about 1 percent of the state’s spending — a monster-sized jackpot can inject significant cash into the education spending plan.

With each $2 Powerball ticket purchased in California, about 80 cents goes toward education. The money is divided among K-12 schools and community colleges and universities. Powerball is played in 44 states and three U.S. territories.

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