Governor backs preK for all in his budget plan
SACRAMENTO — California would open prekindergarten to all 4yearolds, fund college savings accounts for lowincome students and bring more afterschool programs to disadvantaged communities under a plan Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday to “transform our educational system.”
The sweeping package, propelled by a surge of new education money as the state economy bounces back from the coronavirus pandemic, is part of the revised budget proposal that Newsom will unveil Friday.
It also includes a striking $3.3 billion to recruit and train new teachers, $3 billion to promote the community school model that directly incorporates social services onto campus, and about $10 billion in funding that was delayed last year because of a budget shortfall.
State finance officials project that the funding California is required by law to spend on K12 schools and community colleges will rise to a record $93.7 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, about $8 billion more than January estimates.
Newsom said Wednesday that he wants to
direct those additional resources at programs to bolster California’s early education system, a campaign priority of his, and to address longstanding inequities that were exacerbated by the pandemic.
“We are looking to transform, not go back to where we were, but to transform our educational system,” Newsom said during a visit to an elementary school in Castroville (Monterey County), the latest stop on his statewide tour to unveil select planks in his budget plan.
Along with the rest of his budget, the education initiatives are subject to negotiation over the next month with the Legislature, which must pass a balanced budget by June 15 or forgo its pay.
Newsom’s plan would establish universal access to prekindergarten, known as transitional kindergarten in California, which is currently available to only a quarter of the state’s 4yearolds. The extra year was established nearly a decade ago for students with birthdays between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2, who miss the age cutoff to enter kindergarten the fall that they turn 5.
Newsom would phase in eligibility for transitional kindergarten, which is not mandatory, to all 4yearolds over the course of three years, starting in the 202223 school year. At full enrollment, it would cost about $2.7 billion more per year than current spending. The governor would also make $440 million available to school districts next year to help them prepare for that expansion.
“We’re ecstatic that he’s finally addressing this injustice,” Assembly Member Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs the budget committee, said in an interview. “It’s just a huge, huge step.”
Another of Newsom’s proposals would use $2 billion from the latest federal coronavirus relief package to seed college savings accounts for public school students, which he said would “create a collegegoing mindset.”
Children from lowincome families would get a $500 deposit when they enter first grade, with an extra $500 for foster youths and homeless students. The program would immediately establish savings accounts for 3.8 million kids, with about 320,000 added each year, at a cost of $170 million to the state each year.
Perpupil funding for public schools would increase by an additional 1% above inflation, but only if they fully reopen in the fall. Public schools across California have largely been closed for more than a year due to pandemic restrictions, with many campuses still offering only distance learning or hybrid models incorporating both inperson and remote instruction.
Newsom’s budget plan would require them to reopen full time for inperson instruction to receive state funding, setting up a potential clash with teachers unions and families that have raised coronavirus safety concerns about returning to the classroom. Students who do not want to return to campus could instead enroll in independent study under Newsom’s proposal.
Bringing students back to classrooms is “our commitment, that’s our resolve, that’s our expectation,” Newsom said.
Other items in the governor’s proposed budget would create programs for districts that serve large numbers of lowincome families. Schools where at least 55% of students come from such families or are homeless, foster youths or English learners would get an additional $1.1 billion per year to hire more staff. They would receive $1 billion next year, growing to $5 billion annually over five years, to set up comprehensive afterschool and summer school programs.
Kevin Gordon, president of Capitol Advisors Group, a lobbying firm that works with many of the state’s school districts, said in an interview that Newsom was supporting “really good areas.” But he raised concerns that the governor appeared to be reneging on an earlier budget promise to increase the base amount of guaranteed school funding.
Directing some of the new money only to districts with high poverty rates would “touch off a lot of controversy” by leaving out needy students who attend school in wealthier communities, Gordon added: “It just begs the question, do we love some poor kids more than others?”
Oakland school board President Shanthi Gonzales called the proposed funding increase “amazing” but voiced disappointment that it left out special education and pension relief — increasingly costly items in school district budgets. Newsom’s plans for more community schools and universal prekindergarten were particularly exciting for Oakland, Gonzales said.
“We have excess space,” she said. “We’re poised to expand.”