Here are some major education highlights from the budget that the Legislature passed this week. The Governor will now have 30 days from passage to sign it or veto it. He can also ‘blue-line’ some of the funding including in the proposal.
Prop 98 Funding
The Governor’s Prop 98 proposal was approved:
2014-15: $67.2 billion
2015-16: $69.1 billion
2016-17: $71.9 billion
The budget deal assumes the Governor’s local property tax estimates and does not re-bench Prop 98 by $10 million due to Prop 47 savings.
Reductions:
- $40 million (on-going) for LCFF Implementation
- $120 million (one-time) in flexible funds (for mandate claims)
Eliminations:
- $100 million Emergency Repair Revolving Loan Program (one-time)
Additions:
- $43.7 million (on-going) for preschool rates
- $7.8 million for full-day Preschool slots (on-going, with scheduled increases from 2017-2020)
- $200 million (one-time) for the College Readiness Block Grant
- $24 million (one-time) for California Collaborative for Education Excellence (CCEE)
- $35 million (one-time) for Teacher Workforce Package
LCFF Funding
Provides $2.94 billion in funding for LCFF, bringing total LCFF funding to $55.8 billion in 2016-17.
One-time Funding
Provides $1.28 billion in one-time discretionary funding (pays down prior-year K-12 mandate backlog). This provides approximately $214 per ADA – the same amount proposed in the Governor’s January Budget proposal.
K-12 College Readiness Block Grant
Provides $200 million in one-time Prop 98 funding for K-12 College Readiness Block Grant for LEAs to better prepare low income, EL, and foster students for college admission.
Early Education and Child Care
The agreement provides for 8,877 new full day preschool lots over the next three years and increases reimbursement rates for the RMR, SRR and Licensed Exempt Rates.
California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE)
Provides $24 million in one-time Prop 98 funds for the CCEE to conduct statewide training on the LCFF evaluation rubrics and to conduct a pilot program for supporting LEAs ($20 million for training and $4 million for the pilot program)
Charter School Start-up Grants
Provides $20 million in one-time Prop 98 funding for the Charter School Startup Grants program and requires CDE to spend down available federal carry-over first.
Teacher Workforce Package
The budget deal expands upon Governor Brown’s May Revision proposals to address the state’s growing teacher shortage.
- $20 million in one-time Prop 98 funding to re-establish the Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program to provide grants for classified employees to get their teaching credential
- $10 million in one-time General Fund to provide grants to postsecondary institutions to develop four-year integrated teacher credential programs
- $5 million in one-time Prop 98 funding to create the California Center on Teaching Careers, to strengthen statewide recruitment of individuals into the teaching profession
- No one-time funding to establish a pilot teacher residency program
- Does not reestablish the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE) loan forgiveness program
Other K-12 education Budget Issues
- $2 million in one-time Proposition 98 funding to expand the existing School Breakfast Startup Grant program in order to increase participation in the School Breakfast program
- Approve the Governor’s May Revision proposal to provide an additional $2 million in ongoing funding to support the Student Friendly Services college planning website
- $1.2 million in one-time federal Title III state level carryover for CDE to develop a best practices video series to provide guidance to LEAs on effective English Language Development (ELD) instruction for English learners and to revise the CDE’s guidance document on instruction for English learners
- No additional ongoing funding and no statutory COLA for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program
- $1 million in one-time Proposition 98 funding for the Los Angeles County Office of Education to contract with the Special Olympics Northern and Southern California to expand Special Olympics in schools
- No new funding for CDE’s state operations to increase staff for district reorganization workload
- $150,000 in one-time General Fund and trailer bill language requiring the SPI to estimate the average costs associated with full-day and part-day kindergarten programs and recommended options for incentivizing full-day kindergarten, including providing differentiated funding rates for full-day and part-day kindergarten.
- No ongoing or one-time funding for the California Association of Student Councils
- $1.7 million in one-time General Fund to build a new middle school activity center at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont
Other issues to be addressed in K-12 education trailer bills
- Trailer bill language specifying that the Math Readiness Challenge Grant shall be administered by CDE and shall prioritize LEAs with high proportions of needy students and high rates of math remediation
- Trailer bill language requiring CDE to apportion three-fourths of the total funding for the K-12 High Speed Network by August 31st of each fiscal year in order to address the K-12 High Speed Network’s cash flow needs
- Supplemental Report Language requiring the SPI to report to the Legislature on the interim and formative assessment tools available through the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and how teachers can use these tools to match specific state standards, or clusters of standards