California has a historic budget surplus of $97.5 billion. Of which, $49.2 billion is in discretionary funds after Prop 98 and other commitments are accounted for.
Budget Overview
- $300.7 billion in the total budget
- $227.4 billion in the General Fund
- $37.1 billion in reserves
- $9.5 billion in the School Stabilization Reserve
K-12 Overview
The May Revise includes total funding of $128.3 billion ($78.4 billion GF and $49.9 billion other funds) for all K-12 education programs.
LCFF COLA Increase – 6.56%
- $1.1 billion ongoing Prop 98
LCFF Base Funding Increase
- $2.1 billion ongoing Prop 98
Declining Enrollment
- $2.1 billion for declining enrollment
- To minimize reductions in LCFF funding that would otherwise result due to increased absences, the May Revise proposes allowing all classroom-based local educational agencies to be funded at the greater of their current year average daily attendance or their current year enrollment adjusted for pre-COVID-19 absence rates in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
- Specifically, the May revision enables local educational agencies to utilize a modified version of 2021-22 average daily attendance to determine their 2021-22 LCFF allocations.
The May Revise also proposes further modifying the three-year rolling average to conform with this adjustment. The total ongoing costs associated with these policies are estimated to be $3.3 billion ongoing Prop 98 and $463 million one-time Prop 98.
Discretionary Block Grant
- $8 billion one-time Prop 98 in discretionary funds, allocated on a per-pupil basis.
Community Schools
- $1.5 billion one-time Prop 98 to expand access to the community schools grants.
Nutrition
- $611.8 million ongoing Prop 98 to augment the state meal reimbursement rate sufficient to maintain meal reimbursement rates beginning in 2022-23.
Facilities
- $3.9 billion in School Facilities
- New Construction – $1.8 billion GF, allocating $2.2 billion one-time GF in 2021-22, $1.2 billion one-time General Fund in 2023-24, and $625 million one-time GF in 2024-25 to support new construction and modernization projects through the School Facility Program.
- Maintenance – $1.8 billion one-time Prop 98 for schools to address outstanding school facility maintenance issues.
Expanded Learning Opportunities Program
- $4.8 billion, and full funding implementation of $2,500 for every low-income student, English language learner, and youth in foster care in the state.
- $1 billion one-time Prop 98 to support Expanded Learning Opportunities Program infrastructure, with a focus on integrating arts and music programming into the enrichment options for students.
- LEAs will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all low-income students, English language learners, and youth in foster care, and local educational agencies with the highest concentrations of these students will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all elementary students.
TK
- Local Assignment Option for Transitional Kindergarten Teachers—To temporarily increase the pipeline of qualified transitional kindergarten teachers, allows teachers with preschool teaching permits who hold bachelor’s degrees that meet basic skills requirements and are enrolled in coursework leading to be assigned as the teacher of record in a credential to teach transitional kindergarten. This flexibility is proposed to sunset on June 30, 2026.
Educator Workforce
- $500 million one-time Prop 98 to expand residency slots for teachers and school counselors.
- Expand the Golden State Teacher Grant Program to school counselors, social workers, and psychologist candidates who earn a credential and serve in a priority school for four years.
- $86 million one-time Prop 98 to create a Pre-K through 12th grade educator resources and professional learning to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, Math Framework, Computer Science Standards, and math and science domains in the Preschool Learning Foundations. $300 million one-time Prop 98 to augment LEAs professional learning through the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant with a priority for STEM educators.
From the January Budget:
Independent Study
- The budget emphasizes the Governor’s commitment to in-person instruction but recognizes the need to streamline independent study and allows LEAs to choose between traditional independent study and course-based independent study for short- and long-term instruction models.
- In addition, the budget proposes streamlining the administration of programs allowing synchronous instructions to count for instructional times in traditional independent study, in addition to student work product, and flexibility in collecting signed independent study plans.
Early Literacy
Coupled with other investments in early education, professional development, along with support for dyslexia and other learning disabilities, these investments will support improved literacy outcomes for children.
- $500 million in one-time P98 available over 5 years for high-needs schools to train and hire literacy coaches and reading specialists.
- $200 million in one-time P98 for the establishment of grant programs to enable LEAs to create or expand multi-lingual schools or classrooms.
- $10 million in on-time P98 for the California Department of Public Health and First 5 California on the Books for Children Program.
- $2 million one-time P98 to incorporate early identification for learning disabilities into the state’s preschool assessment tool and $60 million one-time P98 to provide training for professional development.
Trailer bill language clarifies that expanded learning opportunities programs may be used to hire literacy tutors.
Special Education
$500 million ongoing P98 for special education funding formula, paired with the following policy changes:
- Improve LEAs abilities to project their special education funding allocations and undertake comprehensive program planning, amend the special education funding formula to calculate special education base funding allocations at the LEA level rather than Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) level.
- Consolidate two special education extraordinary cost pools into a single cost pool to simplify the current funding formula.
- Allocate Educationally Related Mental Health Services directly to the LEA rather than to SELPAs.
- Develop a Special Education Addendum to the LCAP that will include planning and promote cohesion by linking special education and general education planning, so parents of students with disabilities have a defined role in the LCAP development.
- Support efforts to develop comprehensive IEPs by focusing a special education resource lead on IEP best practices and establishing an expert panel to continue the work of creating a model IEP template.
- Establish an alternate diploma and a workgroup to explore alternative coursework options for students with disabilities to demonstrate completion of the state graduation requirements.
Improving Services to Young Children with Disabilities
- $849,000 GF and 6 positions to support CDE’s transition process efforts.
- $51 million GF in 2022-23 and $68.1 million GF ongoing to reduce regional center service coordinator caseload ratios to 1:40 for children through age five to increase family visits from bi-annually to quarterly and strengthen federal compliance with timely service delivery and transitions.
- $10 million GF to promote inclusion in preschool of three- and four-year-olds served by regional centers. Resources will support preschool efforts to improve the accessibility of their programs.
- $3.2 million GF to establish IDEA Specialists at each regional center. The IDEA Specialists will provide expertise on IDEA services through technical support to both regional centers and local education agencies providing school-age services.
- $1.2 million GF to increase DDS resources to make improvements to the Early Start Program to drive toward inclusive services, help streamline intake processes, align systems, and increase interagency collaboration with CDE.
Educator Workforce
$54.4 million for accelerated preparation and supporting, training, and retention of well-prepared educators:
- $24 million one-time GF to waive some teacher exam fees,
- $12 million one-time GF to extend the waiver of select credential fees.
- $10 million one-time GF competitive grants programs to public and private institutions to develop and implement integrated teacher preparation programs.
- $5.2 million P98 and $322,000 GF to re-establish the Personnel Management Assistance Teams to support LEAs in improving hiring and recruitment practices.
- $1.4 million GF to establish career counselors for prospective educators at CTC.
- $924,000 GF to support multiple grant programs and fee waivers.
- $900,000 for CTC to contract a public outreach to highlight the value and benefits of educational careers in prekindergarten – 12th grade.
- Extend CTCs ability to authorize any holder of a credential or permit issued by CTC to serve as a substitute teaching assignment, aligned with their authorization for up to 60 cumulative days for any one assignment.
- $5 million one-time P98 for community college-university teacher credential collaboratives.
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