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Education Coalition

The Governor’s Budget proposal to fund Prop 98 at a level that reflects the increased revenues from the November 2012 election and his effort to eliminate the wall of debt by paying down deferrals is supported by the Education Coalition. This reflects the Coalition’s long standing principle to protect the integrity of the Proposition 98 guarantee.

The Education Coalition also reaffirms that the use of new revenues to fund cost-of-living adjustments, enrollment growth, and to start reversing the deep budget cuts that were made to California’s public schools should be a priority. California continues to be the 8th largest economy in the world and our academic standards are among the most rigorous in the country, but our investment in education is among the lowest compared to other states.

California is 49th in per-pupil spending at $8,482, which was 28% below the national average of $11,824 according to Education Week’s annual survey released in January 2013.

 Read the Education Coalition's response to the May Revision
 Read the Education Coalition Budget Position Paper

Why We Need Tax Fairness

Average household income
Educators are fed up with watching our students and schools go without while banks are being bailed out and the middle class and poor are being shut out. The survival of California’s public schools and essential public services depends on stable tax revenues. And a stable tax structure begins with everyone paying their fair share.

Teachers Pay For Supplies

Teacher buying school supplies

In budget-strapped California, pencils, paper and textbooks are indeed prized goods — and their availability in classrooms is increasingly dependent upon the resourcefulness of teachers.

 Read the full Time Magazine article

Issues & Action

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State Budget

  • We are extremely encouraged by the historic state budget agreement in Sacramento to overhaul education funding for K-12 schools. Thanks to the hard work of educators and parents to pass Proposition 30, the new spending plan provides all schools with more resources, begins repaying schools the money they are owed from years of budget cuts, recognizes the need for smaller class sizes and helps meet the needs of school districts serving at-risk students. As school doors close for the year this month, new doors are opening with the new funding plan. Additional funding for our students of greatest need will help more dreams become realities.

    While it will take years for our schools to fully recover, this budget agreement is a big step in the right direction. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a state budget proposal with a significant increase in education funding. We call on all lawmakers to support this compromise on the governor’s Local Control Funding Formula as part of the final budget because the numbers add up to renewed opportunities for our schools. We are also encouraged by the $1.25 billion for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. These new standards will dramatically impact teaching and learning and educators must have the resources they need to help students succeed. CTA is still reviewing school district accountability provisions, but this agreement holds the promise of a better future for our students.

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More Info

  • 49th in Per-Pupil Spending
    While California receives a "B+" for equity, we unfortunately receive an "F" for spending.
  • The Basics of California's School Finance System
    Every summer, the CA legislature and governor decide how much money will go to K–12 public education and how it will be divided among school districts, county offices of education and the CA Dept of Ed.
  • Proposition 98: What You Should Know
    Passed by voters in 1988, Prop 98 sets a minimum funding guarantee for public education.

More Info

  • Addressing Inequities in School Finance
    A large share of California’s K-12 students are English learners or come from low-income families, and therefore cost more to educate. The Governor’s Local Control Funding Formula would provide a base grant for all students and supplemental and concentration grants for English learners or students from low-income families.
  • Decade of Disinvestment

    A decade of disinvestment has left California’s spending for public schools lagging the nation by a number of measures.

  • CA Schools Cope with Adversity and the Imperative To Do More
    California school districts are being expected to "do more with less." They face critical and competing pressures to improve academic achievement while remaining fiscally solvent in a time of increasing budgetary pressures.

Schools Under Stress: An EdSource Report

teens taking test

California's 30 largest school districts—which educate nearly 2 million students—are facing multiple stresses tied to the economic crisis at a state and national level, threatening their ability to provide a quality education to California's children, according to an EdSource report.

The findings of the report include the following:

  • More than 1/3 of the districts ended up laying off some 2,000 classroom teachers for the current school year.
  • Half of the districts surveyed had 30 or more students in one or more of their K-3 grades, a stark reversal of the 1-to-20 teacher-to-student ratio that was the norm in almost every K-3 classroom in 2007-08.
  • 12 out of 30 districts have an instructional year of less than 180 days.
  • Nearly all of the state's 30 largest districts are educating more students living in poverty.

Read the 28-page report 

Government Action

Issues in Education

Parents & Community

Social Networks

Every child deserves a chance to learn and no child succeeds alone.

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