By Len Feldman
At the urging of CTA and its Education Coalition partners, the Legislature sent a measure to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger aimed at correcting an error in the 2009-10 state budget. On Nov. 5, the governor signed ABx3 56, by Assembly Budget Chair Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa).
The CTA-backed measure will protect $402 million designated for the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA).
The newly signed bill guarantees that the QEIA school districts are not going to have their revenue limits cut beyond the level of cuts experienced by other school districts. The bill will keep QEIA districts whole. In short, CTA was successful in getting legislation passed and signed that protects QEIA districts from additional cuts.
Funding for QEIA is intended to provide additional assistance to schools whose students fall in the lowest deciles to improve their performance. Recent data, though preliminary, indicate that students in schools in the Quality Education Investment Act program are showing marked improvement (see story, "Data show QEIA schools making academic gains").
The appropriations for QEIA grew out of the settlement of a lawsuit between CTA and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over funding owed to schools under Proposition 98.