California schools to lose billions of dollars in Newsom’s budget. It could have been worse

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a $5 billion cut in funding to California’s K-12 schools, a grim projection that could have been worse without a pot of money he wants to use from the economic stimulus package Congress allocated in March.

Newsom in his May budget revise wants to set aside $76 billion in K-14 funding, a dip from the $81 billion he allocated in the budget he signed last year.

His Finance Department last week released a projection that showed a potential $19 billion hit to funding for public schools from the $84 billion he had proposed in January, reflecting California’s sudden recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

That drop in money for schools was driven by the voter-approved formula known as Proposition 98 that sets minimum funding for education. When tax revenue declines, so does funding for schools.

Newsom’s new budget proposal attempts to fill some of that gap by deploying $4.4 billion federal coronavirus aid and redirecting a prepayment of public pension debt to use for schools. That combination nets about $6 billion.

He’s also proposing to provide additional funding for schools in future years by committing an extra 1.5 percent, or between $2.2 and $4.6 billion, per year from the state general fund to supplement California’s education budget.

“Numbers change, but values don’t have to,” Newsom said. “I want you to know, we are not just going to roll over and accept $19 billion in cuts to public education.”

Education advocates say the cuts will still hurt schools and students.

Newsom’s plan fails to save schools from what education lobbyist Kevin Gordon said is the “deepest” budget cut “that California schools have ever seen in a single year.”

“I don’t imagine with cuts at this level that we can do anything other than babysitting,” Gordon said.

What will school look like in the fall?

California schools must also start preparing for a radically different education system modified to slow the spread of the virus.

Districts have been warned that classes might have to be staggered. Regular deep cleanings, cuts to recess and physical education classes and mandatory masks for staff and students are all part of California’s potential education future.

Those are expensive initiatives that will require additional funding, said California Federation of Teachers President Jeff Freitas.

“The proposed education cuts for the 2020-21 budget will be devastating at a time when students need more support,” said California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd. He’s urging voters to press lawmakers for more school funding.

Newsom’s teacher training plan

Earlier this year, Newsom proposed $900 million in funding for schools to help them train and recruit teachers. The plan included $20,000 bonuses for teachers who committed to low-income districts.

Those initiatives are gone.

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, a Long Beach Democrat and chair of the Assembly Education Committee, said he knew the programs announced just four months ago were immediately “off the table” given the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

O’Donnell said the priority has to shift from excitement over new initiatives to defending the current funding for existing programs.

“All those programs that had been talked about are real good ideas. But it’s not a time to start contemplating new programs,” he said. “It’s a time to attempt to fund existing programs on an adequate level.”

Education activists also expressed worry Thursday over whether this recession will lead to the kind of teacher layoffs and furloughs that occurred during the Great Recession, which left 33,000 educators out of a job.

For districts like Sacramento City Unified, which faced a $27 million deficit before the downturn, the revised budget worsens already dire finances. Reductions laid out in Newsom’s proposal could cost the district $50 million in lost revenue.

What will be imperative, said Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, isn’t how much schools receive, but reducing regulations against the districts. Kiley also said though the budget in recent years has afforded California schools additional funding, that money has not translated to dramatic education improvements.

“There has been no real link between funding levels and student achievement in California,” he said. “California’s education system is in need of systemic reform. That’s what can be used to drive change in our classrooms.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 8:08 AM with the headline "California schools to lose billions of dollars in Newsom’s budget. It could have been worse."