NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - For investors who like to gamble on initial public offerings, the state of Illinois may soon have a multi-billion dollar IPO for you.

Blagojevich and other state officials announced the plans proposing either selling or leasing out the operation of its state lottery Tuesday, saying either a lease or a lottery IPO could raise an estimated $10 billion.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is proposing the spinoff of its state lottery as a way to raise money for the state's schools immediately.

The plan, which would need the approval of the Illinois legislature, calls for using $4 billion of those proceeds for school and education funding improvements over the next four years, and buying an annuity to pay the state's school fund $650 million annually through fiscal year 2025. The company running the lottery would get all proceeds from the lottery after that.

The lottery has raised between $504 million to $600 million a year for the state over the last 10 years. Blagojevich said he believes this is the best way to get schools the funding they need.

"We want more money in our schools, and the question is how do you get it," he said at a press conference Tuesday announcing the plan. "We found a creative way to do it."

His opponent, Republican Judy Baar Topinka, complained to the press Tuesday that Blagojevich had hastily pulled together the plan to convince Illinois state Sen. James Meeks, a liberal independent lawmaker, not to mount a third party challenge for the governor's office. Meeks has been a strong advocate of increasing education funding. The Republican candidate said the plan to sell off the lottery was a bad idea.

"It's basically a shell game for the lottery," she said at a press conference. "Other states have looked at this, they've not gone towards it. If the lottery is not doing as well as it should be, then hire a new staff and make it work. We should be making that money without hiring a middle man."

Becky Carroll, spokeswoman for the governor's Office of Management and Budget, said that while other states have not privatized their lotteries, there have been privatizations of lotteries in other countries. And she said that states have privatized toll roads recently in order to monetize future revenue streams more immediately.

"Those that have privatized toll roads have gotten more than they expected to," she said. "We think $10 billion for the lottery is a conservative estimate."