Where California’s education funding is going

The state’s K-12 and higher education systems will receive a record-level influx of new money.

K-12 Overall Spending

• TK-12 funding from all sources: $121.7 billion (average $21,152 per student)
• Local Control Funding Formula: $4.4 billion increase to $66.7 billion, through 5.07% “super COLA”
• Budget reserves: $25.2 billion (12.8% of General Fund)
• Prop.98 reserve: $4.5 billion (4.8% of funding)
• Deferrals: All $11 billion in late payments to K-12 schools, community colleges are repaid

K-12 New Programs

• Increased staffing: $1.1 billion ongoing for districts with high concentrations of high-needs students
• Extended day/summer school: $5 billion over several years to districts, based on their numbers of high-needs students, for summer programs and longer days with enrichment programs, for TK to 6th grades
• Community Schools: $2.8 billion in one-time Prop. 98 funding through 2028 to enable 1,000 schools to transition to community schools through partnerships with nonprofits, community organizations
• Healthy Kids Survey: $10 million to make the California school climate surveys available to all school districts and to  develop a trauma-informed survey supplement
• Career ed: $150 million to double annual funding for vocational and career technical education
• Universal school meals: Free breakfasts and lunches for all students with $650 million ongoing Prop 98 funding, starting 2022-23
• Meals support: one-time $150 million for kitchen upgrades, training on creating healthier meals
• A-G course completion: one-time $557 million to improve students’ rates of passing courses required for admission to CSU and UC, including pay for AP exam fees
• Ethnic studies: one-time $55 million for districts to implement new ethnic studies curriculum framework
• Global warming: $6 million to develop K-12 resources on climate change and environmental justice

Special education

• Ongoing Prop. 98 funding increase with 4.05% COLA
• Early intervention grants: $260 million for infants to preschoolers
• Family engagement, alternative dispute practices: $550 million, one-time funding

Teacher training and recruitment

• $1.5 billion over 5 years for new Educator Effectiveness Block Grant for staff professional development.
• $500 million for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program to subsidize credentialing for aspiring teachers agreeing to teach in low-income areas with a teacher shortage
• $350 million for one-time grants to develop new or expand existing teacher residency programs
• $250 million over five years to encourage National Board Certified teachers to teach and mentor teachers in high poverty schools
• $125 million over 5 years to expand the credentialing program for classified staff  for expanded learning and early education programs
• $52 million for professional development on social and emotional learning and trauma-informed practices.
• $5 million for educator training in computer science

Early Education

• Access to child care: 120,000 additional slots rising to 200,000 new slots by 2025
• Higher payments to child care and preschool providers: $289 million federal funds, $289 million General Fund, and $67.7 million Proposition 98 one-time funding
• Transitional Kindergarten: universal TK phased in for all 4-year-olds by 2026
• Facilities: $490 million for school districts to retrofit or build new facilities for preschool, transitional kindergarten, or full-day kindergarten expansion
• California Early Math Initiative: $45 million over three years

Higher Education

University of California

• $302 million: restores General Fund cut in 2020-21
• $173 million: General Fund increase.
• States intent of Legislature to reduce nonresident enrollment to 18% at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego

California State University

• $299 million: restores General Fund cut in 2020-21
• $185.9 million: General Fund increase
• $325 million: one-time from General Fund for deferred maintenance and energy efficiency projects

Community colleges

• $1.45 billion: to pay down late payments, also known as deferrals, from last year
• $115 million: one-time funding for zero-textbook-cost degrees.
• $100 million: one-time funding to increase student enrollment and retention
• $90 million: one-time funds to support part-time faculty office hours

Cal Grants

• Eliminates age and time out of high school requirements for Cal Grants for community college students, expanding aid to an estimated 133,000 students in 2021-22

EdSource’s Yuxuan Xie created the graphics for this post. 

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