According to the administration, the governor's budget proposal will:
- Meet the Proposition 98 guarantee and fully fund the growth in enrollment and the statutory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
- Generally provide K-12 programs, including categorical programs, with a 2.15 percent COLA and a 1.07 percent increase for student enrollment. Special education will gain 1.11 percent for growth.
- Earmark for community colleges the statutory 2.15 percent COLA and a 3 percent increase for enrollment growth.
- Boost per-student spending to $7,058, up from $6,922 in 2001-02 following the November 2001 proposed reductions, a boost of $136.
- Increase total dollars for K-12 education by $1.1 billion from the level carried in the 2001-02 budget, less the November reduction proposals.
- Provide beginning in July 1 an appropriation to assist schools of greatest need ranking in the bottom four deciles of the API. The schools must show that they have made academic improvement and have reduced the number of teachers on emergency permits.
- Boost by $75 million (including last year's deferred $29 million boost) funding for before and after-school programs. The funding should provide 80,000 new slots, almost doubling the program's size.
- Provide $625 million for textbooks, a $25 million boost. The budget also proposes to change the textbook allocation process so that districts must certify that they have texts for each student that are in accord with new statewide standards. Of this amount, $200 million is one-time money. (This proposal includes a consolidation of the K-8 and 9-12 Instructional Materials programs and the K-12 Library and K-4 Classroom Library Materials programs with the K-12 Instructional Materials Block Grant. The intention is to provide school districts with greater flexibility to address local needs for instructional materials. The plan includes a guarantee that funding for the new block grant will increase to $600 million in four years and will be tied to the textbook adoptions schedule.)
- Propose funding for continued teacher recruitment efforts.