May Revise Budget Provides Additional Money for Schools: Makes Little Progress Toward Full & Fair Funding
Despite funding increases, California still ranks near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding
SACRAMENTO, Calif., (May 11, 2018) – The revised 2018-19 budget meets Gov. Jerry Brown’s promised investment in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) two years ahead of schedule, but makes little progress toward Full and Fair Funding of public schools.
By virtue of an increased Proposition 98 guarantee, the “May Revise” budget meets the LCFF funding targets, originally slated for the 2020-21 fiscal year. That investment, while sorely needed, still leaves California near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding. Simply relying on the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee is not adequate to meet the challenges facing California’s public schools as we seek to provide all students with a high-quality education, obtain the resources needed to better serve high-need students and eliminate opportunity and achievement gaps.
“The increase in the Proposition 98 guarantee is certainly welcome and will come as a relief to school districts and county offices of education as they grapple with rising transportation, utility, and health and welfare costs,” explained CSBA President Mike Walsh. “Simply funding LCFF to targets set five years ago, however, is nowhere close to the Full and Fair Funding needed to provide all California students with an education that prepares them for college, career and civic life.”
California currently stands 41st nationally in per-pupil funding according to the California Budget & Policy Center and nearly last or last in almost every school staffing metric, as reported by the National Education Association and the National Center for Education Statistics.
“As we seek to educate our students for the demands of an increasingly competitive, global and technological world, we are asking more of them than ever before,” Walsh said. “We have to ask as much from ourselves and give our schools the resources they need to meet the challenges of our modern age.”
CSBA is a nonprofit association representing nearly 1,000 PreK-12 school districts
and county offices of education throughout California.