The last Mega Millions lottery drawing broke the record for participation and jackpot size, a whopping $656 million. Hopeful Americans in 42 states waited on March 30 to see if their investment would allow them to retire early.

Many thought ticket purchases would go toward shrinking state and school budgets. The Mega Millions official website says that 35 percent of all revenue benefits the states where tickets are purchased.

One of the primary goals of the California State Lottery Act of 1984 was to provide more funding for public education without raising taxes.

According to the California Lottery website, more than $1 billion in lottery funds goes to California public education each year. By the end of 2011, the California State University (CSU) system received $38,497,953 from lottery sales.

Yet it seems as if people have become dependent on this to alleviate cuts to education in California. Solving the problem does not lie on ticket sales; rather, it should be in holding our elected officials accountable through our votes.

About two million fewer Californians voted in the last state election than the preceding one in 2008, according to the Secretary of State’s official Statement of Vote.

Could this mean that people are putting more faith in a lottery than the democratic system when it comes to education? Looking at the numbers, one would hope not.

The CSU system has frozen admission on 15 campuses in response to budget cuts in February and in anticipation of another $200 million cut after this November’s election, according to a statement by the CSU Assistant Vice Chancellor Robert Turnage in March. These cuts are a direct result of a debilitated economy in California, which forces university systems to impose cuts.

Funds acquired from the Mega Millions in California amount to about $8.67 per student and cover less than 16 percent of what was cut in February, as reported by the San Jose Mercury News on April 4.

An article from Forbes asserts the lottery has no benefit to the states, pointing out although this was the largest lotto jackpot in history, the total financial contribution did not equal 0.1 percent of any state’s annual budget.

The problem with this is people’s expected outcomes. Voting is free, and it’s almost guaranteed to work. Yet people cannot find the time or are unwilling to participate, if by no other means than having an informed opinion on current events.

Lottery, on the other hand, offers the slightest possible chance of changing players’ lives, but people are willing to contribute day after day to a record-setting jackpot. The buzz surrounding the Mega Million drawing permeated social settings from the corner store to the classroom.

On Twitter, the #IfIWin tag ranked among the top trending topics. It’s so much easier and much more appeasing to our greedy, egocentric psyches to fantasize about money than to consider real problems that face our state.

If we expect to see change in our lives and communities, we should at least take the time and energy displayed about this event when the election rolls around this November.

Our personal stake is greater, and while it may not be as fun to speculate how life might change after the election compared to winning the jackpot, the outcome would actually be measurable.

State elections are important because we have the chance to directly elect the officials that create these budgets, and to vote on measures and propositions that control funding and taxation that affects us in real life.

So rather than buying a ticket to cover California’s budget problems, read a ballot or a newspaper, participate in the vote and take matters into your own hands.