California Budget Proposal Increases Funds for K-!2 Schools.

 From. California Budget and Policy Project 

Revised Budget Funds a Large Cost-of-Living Adjustment for K-12 Education

The largest share of Prop. 98 funding goes to California’s school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education (COEs), which provide instruction to 5.9 million students in grades kindergarten through 12. The governor’s revised spending plan uses one-time dollars to help fund a large cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the state’s K-12 education funding formula — the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Specifically, the May Revision:

• Provides a $3.4 billion year-over-year increase for the LCFF. The LCFF provides school districts, charter schools, and COEs a base grant per student, adjusted to reflect the number of students at various grade levels, as well as additional grants for the costs of educating English learners, students from low-income families, and foster youth. The May Revision would fund an 8.22% COLA for the LCFF in 2023-24, up from the 8.13% COLA estimated in the January budget proposal. The revised spending plan proposes to use $2.7 billion in one-time dollars to help pay for the large increase in ongoing support for the LCFF. According to the Assembly Budget Committee, the May Revision would provide an estimated $79.8 billion in funding for the LCFF in 2023-24.
• Cuts approximately $2.5 billion from the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant. The 2022-23 budget agreement provided $7.9 billion for a one-time block grant to K-12 school districts, COEs, and charter schools allocated based on the percentage of enrolled students who are English learners, students from low-income families, or foster youth. The May Revision proposes to reduce this funding to approximately $5.4 billion. 
• Cuts the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant by approximately $600 million more than proposed in January. The governor’s January budget proposed reducing, from nearly $3.6 billion to approximately $2.3 billion, one-time funding for a per pupil discretionary block grant provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) in the 2022-23 budget agreement. The May Revision proposes to reduce funding for the block grant to approximately $1.8 billion. 
• Increases funding by approximately $300 million for school nutrition programs. For the 2022-23 school year, California established a Universal Meals Program that provides two free meals per day to any public K-12 student regardless of income eligibility.  The revised spending plan includes an additional $110 million in one-time dollars and approximately $191 million in ongoing dollars to fully fund increased demand for the program in 2022-23 and 2023-24. 
• Provides $80 million in ongoing funding for COEs serving students in juvenile court. The revised spending plan states these additional resources would be used to support staffing and programming requirements for students in alternative school settings. The May Revision also proposes to increase COEs’ LCFF base grants by 50% for the additional year of assistance they would provide, based on a proposal in the governor’s January budget, to school districts with performance issues. 
• Provides $20 million for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP). The BTPDP was established in 2018, but it expired in June 2021. The May Revision would reinstitute the program and make funding available through 2028-29.  
• Funds an increase in the COLA for non-LCFF programs. The May Revision increases the COLA for several categorical programs that remain outside of the LCFF to 8.22% from the 8.13% COLA provided in January.
• Maintains $300 million for a proposed “equity multiplier” add-on to the LCFF. The revised spending plan would continue to provide ongoing funding proposed in January for LEAs with large shares of students from families with low incomes. Additionally, the May Revision states that it reflects changes to the state’s K-12 accountability system to clarify those proposed in January “including additional assurances that all LEAs with low student performance address disparities in the preparation of their educators.” 
• Proposes to screen students in kindergarten through 2nd grade for risk of reading difficulties. The May Revision proposes to make these screenings mandatory by the 2025-26 school year and would require LEAs to provide services to identified students, including those at risk of dyslexia. 
• Extends the deadline for spending Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) funds. The 2022-23 budget agreement provided $4 billion for the ELOP. The May Revision extends the  June 30, 2023 deadline for spending ELOP funds received in 2021-22 and 2022-23 to June 30, 2024.