Federal stimulus funding is coming to the aid of California’s school districts. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed in March allocated some aid directly to K-12 schools. The CARES Act also includes education funding for each state. The combination of Congress’ allocation and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to distribute money would cover more than 90 percent of the proposed $6.4 billion cut to K-12 education funding Newsom is proposing for 2020-21 year due to a massive loss of tax revenue. An EdSource analysis projects that of the 897 districts that receive their funding through the state’s education funding formula, 60.4 percent would get more in stimulus funding than they’d lose in state cuts. The last column shows the projected funding change from 2019-20 to 2020-21 after combining the proposed 7.92 cut in state funding with revenue from the federal CARES Act.
School district or county office of education
% High-needs students 2019-20
Proposed state funding†◊ 2020-21
Direct federal stimulus funding
Projected stimulus funding† high-needs
Projected stimulus funding† special education
Total† 2020-21
Change†
EdSource used available student data from the California Department of Education to calculate the CARES Act funding for each district using the allocation formulas that Newsom detailed in the May budget revision and that Congress detailed in the CARES Act. We compared that with the 7.92 percent cut that Newsom is proposing from every district’s current funding from the Local Control Funding Formula. The funding formula, providing about 80 percent of overall state funding, sets a uniform base funding level and extra money for “high-needs” students attending the districts. The estimated change shows the impact on the level of projected 2020-21 funding after CARES Act funding is included.
* Charter school’s special ed enrollment is included in their authorizing district’s total
** Special education enrollment not released by CDE for privacy; district or county office of educations is getting between $1,800 and $20,000 in additional funding beyond the listed total
*** Special education enrollment was not published by the California Department of Education
I am so glad to see that recognized poor communities will be receiving additional funding, especially the Central Valley area. It's great that a long-term need is being recognized. Many parents and teachers in this area have accepted that we need to contribute to the benefit of the whole community, as we want our children and their friends to flourish, despite what limitations and hardships their families face. I am glad a focused commitment … Read More
I am so glad to see that recognized poor communities will be receiving additional funding, especially the Central Valley area. It’s great that a long-term need is being recognized. Many parents and teachers in this area have accepted that we need to contribute to the benefit of the whole community, as we want our children and their friends to flourish, despite what limitations and hardships their families face. I am glad a focused commitment of funding is proposed, to those who need it most.
Bridgit Pelley4 years ago4 years ago
I'm sorry, but if there are districts losing funding, no district should be gaining - that is unacceptable. Our district is one of the lowest funded in the state and we parents are paying a considerable amount out of pocket for PUBLIC SCHOOL. We have a significant number of families suffering with loss of businesses, layoffs/furloughs - we going to be losing parent financial support and now the state wants us to absorb an almost … Read More
I’m sorry, but if there are districts losing funding, no district should be gaining – that is unacceptable. Our district is one of the lowest funded in the state and we parents are paying a considerable amount out of pocket for PUBLIC SCHOOL. We have a significant number of families suffering with loss of businesses, layoffs/furloughs – we going to be losing parent financial support and now the state wants us to absorb an almost 6% loss, while other districts are getting an almost 7% increase?? UNACCEPTABLE!
Comments (2)
Comments Policy
We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy.
aprile haupt 4 years ago4 years ago
I am so glad to see that recognized poor communities will be receiving additional funding, especially the Central Valley area. It's great that a long-term need is being recognized. Many parents and teachers in this area have accepted that we need to contribute to the benefit of the whole community, as we want our children and their friends to flourish, despite what limitations and hardships their families face. I am glad a focused commitment … Read More
I am so glad to see that recognized poor communities will be receiving additional funding, especially the Central Valley area. It’s great that a long-term need is being recognized. Many parents and teachers in this area have accepted that we need to contribute to the benefit of the whole community, as we want our children and their friends to flourish, despite what limitations and hardships their families face. I am glad a focused commitment of funding is proposed, to those who need it most.
Bridgit Pelley 4 years ago4 years ago
I'm sorry, but if there are districts losing funding, no district should be gaining - that is unacceptable. Our district is one of the lowest funded in the state and we parents are paying a considerable amount out of pocket for PUBLIC SCHOOL. We have a significant number of families suffering with loss of businesses, layoffs/furloughs - we going to be losing parent financial support and now the state wants us to absorb an almost … Read More
I’m sorry, but if there are districts losing funding, no district should be gaining – that is unacceptable. Our district is one of the lowest funded in the state and we parents are paying a considerable amount out of pocket for PUBLIC SCHOOL. We have a significant number of families suffering with loss of businesses, layoffs/furloughs – we going to be losing parent financial support and now the state wants us to absorb an almost 6% loss, while other districts are getting an almost 7% increase?? UNACCEPTABLE!