Governor Newsom’s Proposed CA State Budget on K-12 Education
Funding for K-12 is proposed at $80.7 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion. This includes an increase of $2 billion to the Local Control Funding Formula and an increase of over $576 million for special education. In addition, there is an one time $3 billion proposed to reduce school’s pension costs and $125 million in new funds for increased slots for preschool for low income children – 180,000 slots.
Proposition 98 funds will have grown from $47 billion in 2011-12 to $80 billion in 2019-20. Per pupil funding will be $17,160 in the coming fiscal year (an increase from $15,635 per student in 2017-18), of which $12,000 is Prop 98 guaranteed.
Average daily attendance is falling from about 6 million in 2013-14 to 5.93 million in 2019-20 – a decline of about 700,000 students attending California’s public (district and charter) schools.
CalSTRS is the state teacher’s retirement fund; it has one of the largest unfunded liabilities in California. Employers, employees and the state each pay a share. The employers’ (school district’s) share has increased from 8.25% in ’13-14 to 16.28% in ’18-19 and will increase to 19.1% in 20-21. The budget proposes $3 billion to reduce the local school districts’ share of these obligations.
LCFF is the funding formula for schools with augmentations for low-income kids, foster kids and English learners. It will receive a 3.46% COLA ($2 billion)
Special education kids are supposed to be 40% federally funded; in California, the federal share is only about 10%. The budget proposes an increase of $576 million for Special Ed -- $186 million of the increase is one time.
Under Prop 51 of November 2016 School Facilities Bonds of $7 billion were approved by the voters. In the past two fiscal years, about $600 million in new bonds were authorized and approved annually. The Proposed Budget allocates $1.5 billion for the coming fiscal year.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 1/25/19