Public school districts were winners in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal for next year The increased funding includes an ongoing $2.4 billion boost to services for students with disabilities, money education officials have said is desperately needed as the number of children needing extra help grows.
Newsom, who overcame dyslexia as a child, called the increase for students with disabilities “the largest investment in special education in California history”, adding, “I don’t know that many other states can claim that kind of investment, perhaps in American history.”
The statewide benefits for school districts are a relief for Los Angeles Unified, which will be able to meet recent raises awarded to employees to avert a strike, though long-term financial challenges remain for the state’s largest school system.
The Governor also proposed TK-12 and 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave for community college employees who are starting or expanding their family.
“If you’re going to focus on recruitment and retention, you have to be practical and address the needs of young women,” Newsom said.
For California’s three public higher education systems, the picture was mostly status quo, with comparatively small levels of increased funding.
The basic driving factor behind increased education spending is the state constitution, which requires, under current positive revenue projections, 40% of the state budget to go to public school districts and community colleges.
Newsom proposed how to spend that money and highlighted his education record, which includes adding a new grade of transitional kindergarten for 4-year-olds.
He has also, in some years, tried to shift or divert education dollars to other areas of the budget. To advocates and education unions, such maneuvers were tantamount to unfair or possibly illegal siphoning — and that’s a detail they were eyeing Thursday.
Lawyers were generally pleased with what they heard, and even brought out a calculator to assess whether Newsom still owed more on education.
On one hand, “you can’t argue with a budget that provides more discretionary dollars to schools than the amount seen in a decade, but still, we have to go through the process of looking at the numbers and making sure (the) minimum guarantees are respected … without appearing greedy,” said Kevin Gordon, president of Capital Advisors Group, which lobbies for TK-12 school systems.
California Teachers Association. It was immediately emphasized that cuts were being made to schools, with an estimated $3.9 billion being withheld.
CTA President David Goldberg also praised the “important and long-fought victory for teachers, students and families.”
Here are some of the key details:
How did school districts fare in the governor’s proposed budget?
One big item was an overall increase of 4.31% as a cost-of-living adjustment for school districts and community colleges, which was higher than the legally required number, even though it did not fully keep pace with actual inflation.
Newsom presented his updated budget at $151.6 billion for TK-12 education, which includes a $6.4 billion increase from his initial January budget proposal. Of this, $4.6 billion will be allocated to an education “Rainy Day Fund” to deal with future economic downturns.
But funding is still needed for some large-scale increases. For example, according to the Governor’s Office, funding for services to students with disabilities is 43% higher than the 2025 budget.
There were also large increases for teacher training and community schools, which partner with other entities to provide additional physical and mental health support and family social services.
How was higher education?
Last year, the University of California and California State University implemented austerity measures following previous state budget and federal funding cuts. But the state’s university systems praised the governor’s budget amendment Thursday, which largely preserves his January proposal, keeps planned funding increases for UCs and CSUs, and increases funding for community colleges.
For UC, the proposal calls for a $350 million increase in funding. For CSU, that’s an increase of about $365 million. Both systems also face the postponement of funding increases promised in the past – unchanged from the first version of the budget in January.
In a statement, UC President James B. Milliken said the funding proposed Thursday “will help ensure that the university remains affordable and accessible.” Milliken said UC faces “ongoing federal funding uncertainty and rising operating and labor costs.”
As before, UC and CSU’s plans link some funding to goals of increasing enrollment of California residents.
Newsom also criticized threats of federal funding Thursday and said the Trump administration’s attempt to block hundreds of research grants to UCLA last year was “foolish.” A federal judge has reinstated those grants for now as the ongoing lawsuit winds its way through the courts.
CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia said the revised budget “reflects the administration’s confidence in CSU and the state’s return on investment.” Garcia said the budget will support enrollment growth, graduation rates and student services.
Both higher education systems have warned that increased state funding may not be enough to avoid cuts, hiring caps or reductions in student services. The systems are dealing with cuts in federal funding, stricter visa requirements for foreign enrollment, changes to Education Department guidelines on student loans and Trump administration civil rights investigations.
UC’s core budget is approximately $11 billion, and over 40% comes from the state, with most of the rest coming from tuition and fees. CSU is heavily dependent on Sacramento, with about 60% of its $9 billion core budget coming from the state.
How about early childhood support?
Funding for pregnancy leave would provide job security and pay for mothers who are unable to return to work before or after giving birth, but it is still unclear how much workers will be paid. Funding does not include paid family leave for either parent to care for and bond with the child.
Previous efforts to address pregnancy leave were vetoed by Governors Jerry Brown and Newsom.
Despite pressure from providers and advocates, the proposed budget amendment does not include money to expand state-subsidized child care for families, nor does it include money for a federally supported initiative to reform the way child-care providers are paid. But there is still hope that a budget adjustment between now and June could finance some of the 44,000 additional spots promised by Newsom.
Under the proposal, it is not certain whether the current number of subsidized child care places, approximately 366,700, can be maintained. Changes in federal funding and how legal cannabis is taxed mean about 4,200 slots could be cut. Some money from the state’s voucher program could help offset some of that loss, but it’s not clear how much.
“Their opening line is that California is dominating,” said Laura Pryor, research director at the California Budget and Policy Center. “We’re not dominating child care. He promised to increase the number of subsidized child care spaces, and he’s not keeping that promise.”
As far as rate improvements go, the child-care industry is considering Assembly Bill 1981 to set a timeline that would allow providers to be reimbursed for their services to better reflect the true cost of running a child-care home or center.
The budget proposal was a disappointment to child-care advocates who were seeking to raise the cost of living for both state preschool staff and child-care providers who run programs with subsidized locations. The adjustment in both programs saw a decrease of 2.01%.
Based on the budget numbers, can LA Unified afford the deals it just signed with its unions?
In the short to medium term, at least, the answer appears to be yes, even though new wage commitments for the three major unions will exceed $1 billion per year. Apart from this, the salaries of other unions and management also have to be adjusted.
However, not all budget issues are good for LA Unified. Nearly 500 school-board approved layoffs, many of which are in technology support, are in process and an additional, still undisclosed, number of workers on temporary contracts have been alerted that they will not be renewed.
The new union deals also call for modest class-size reductions and the hiring of more counselors.
Overall, the district is struggling with declining enrollment and increasing pressure to close schools, as well as long-term pension and retiree benefit obligations.
Will Services for Students with DisabilitieslDid the situation improve?
Perhaps. School districts have seen special education costs explode in recent years, forcing them to encroach on their general funds.
School districts could use the new money to reduce this overcrowding, freeing up money for other purposes. Some districts may also use this new state funding to provide more accommodations to students with disabilities.
