May Revision Statement from California School Boards Association President Susan Markarian
SACRAMENTO Calif. (May 12, 2023) - The May Revision insulates some critical K-12 programs from the impact of the state's declining revenue projections and protects many of the investments needed to accelerate learning recovery. This focus is evident in the investment in ongoing funding, especially the 8.22 percent cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment, funding for transitional kindergarten implementation, and inclusion of the major provisions from CSBA-sponsored Assembly Bill 906, which would provide $80 million in additional ongoing funds to support some of California's most vulnerable students in our juvenile court and county community schools.
Conversely we are extremely disappointed to see $4.3 billion in cuts to critical one-time grant programs that overshadow the $3.4 billion COLA increase in the coming 2023-24 school year. The May Revision proposes a $2.5 billion decrease to the Learning Recovery Block Grant and an additional $607 million cut from the Arts, Music & Instructional Materials Block Grant (AMIM). On top of the $1.2 billion cut to the AMIM grant from the January budget, this latest development brings the total reduction to $1.8 billion—equal to half the current $3.6 billion grant and almost twice what voter-approved Proposition 28 is expected to generate for art in schools over the next fiscal year.
As the budget process advances, CSBA will continue to advocate for restoration of this critical funding, as well as additional resources for academic interventions, supplemental services, mental health supports and infrastructure to help students rebound from the pandemic.
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CSBA is a nonprofit association representing nearly 1,000 PreK-12 school districts
and county offices of education throughout California.
www.csba.org