In the final days of budget negotiations, a new and alarming threat to Proposition 98 has emerged: a proposal to fold the private provider portion of the state’s preschool program into the same Prop 98 allocations that have traditionally supported TK–14 public schools.
In a demonstration of unity, California’s leading education organizations representing administrators, classified employees, county superintendents, parents, school board members, school business officials and teachers convened on the West Steps of the State Capitol on May 21 to urge the Legislature to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to withhold $3.9 billion owed to public schools.
On May 14, the Legislature’s respective Appropriations Committees dispensed with their suspense files. The suspense file compiles bills with a price tag of over $150,000 to be considered in bulk in order to assess their fiscal impact upon the state as a whole. Suspense hearings […]
The May Revise contains welcome provisions that will benefit public schools, including a 4.31 percent COLA for LCFF and a $2.4 billion ongoing increase for special education. Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposal masks an underfunding of the Prop 98 school funding guarantee and relies on the prolific use of one-time money to inflate funding levels in the short term without providing the stability and predictability schools need to plan effectively for student support.
On March 17, Assemblymembers Darshana Patel (D-San Diego), Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) and Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) joined CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy, CSBA President Dr. Debra Schade and Hope Elementary School District Superintendent Melanie Matta at the Capitol to unveil the SOS for Student Achievement: Close the state accountability gap campaign and related legislation to improve overall student performance, close achievement gaps and establish comprehensive state-level support for local school districts and county offices of education.
With time to spare, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the final outcomes on Oct. 13 for all legislation that reached his desk at the end of the first year of the two-year 2025–26 legislative session. Notably, four CSBA-sponsored measures reached the Governor’s desk, with three signed into law.
Originally scheduled to end at midnight on Friday, Sept. 12, the Legislature waived the rules to allow it to continue deliberations into Sept. 13, not adjourning until mid-afternoon. This year featured a number of contentious education-related measures ranging from nonclassroom-based charter school reform to efforts […]
Late on Aug. 29 the Legislature’s respective Appropriations Committees dispensed with their suspense files. Included among the many legislative measures considered by the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees were several CSBA-sponsored bills.
July 18 marked the second house policy committee deadline where, predominantly, the Assembly policy committees heard Senate bills, and the Senate policy committees heard Assembly bills. Typically, the houses apply greater scrutiny to the opposing house’s legislation. The Legislature has begun its four-week summer recess […]
On June 24, the Legislature announced it had reached an agreement with Gov. Gavin Newsom on the 2025–26 State Budget. With less than a week before the Governor is required to sign a balanced budget, the agreement will be reflected in a follow-up budget bill, […]
