Getting the education budget in perspective

After all is said and done, K-12 public schools fared reasonably well in the $99 billion state budget despite the state's $23 billion deficit. The final agreement was reached through a combination of taxes, appropriations, deferrals and vetoes.

 
The Legislature came up with a series of "revenue enhancements" to put more money into the general fund, and thus have more to allocate.

The budget includes $727 million for increases in student population in both apportionments and categorical programs. Average daily attendance is projected to increase from 5,801,000 to 5,881,000 (1.38 percent).

Although the statutory rate for 2002-03 is 1.66 percent, the budget includes $817 million for a 2 percent COLA for both revenue limit apportionments and categorical programs. The increases in revenue limits are $89 for elementary school districts, $108 for high school districts and $93 for unified districts.

K-12 categorical programs that will receive a 2 percent COLA include adult education, K-3 class size reduction, staff development buy-back days, ROC/ROP, ninth-grade class size reduction, peer assistance and review, and BTSA.

The budget appropriates $203 million in new funding for school district equalization for the fiscal year 2003-04.

The budget includes $400 million ($150 million of it as one-time funds) to provide standards-aligned instructional materials for K-12 students. Once all pupils have standards-aligned textbooks in core curriculum areas, the funds can be used for a variety of instructional materials purposes, including supplemental and classroom library materials. This block grant replaces the existing Instructional Materials K-8, Instructional Materials 9-12, and K-4 Classroom Library programs.

The budget contains $86.3 million for professional development programs, including $63.5 million for the Mathematics and Reading Professional Development Program. Over a five-year period, more than 52,000 K-12 teachers and 22,000 instructional aides will receive 40 hours of intensive, out-of-classroom training in math and/or reading instruction. Teachers will be provided with an additional 80 hours of follow-up training. Districts will receive $2,500 for each teacher trained and $1,000 for each instructional aide trained.

The budget provides a total of $553.4 million for programs to assist and promote school improvement including:

• $441.3 million for assistance to low-performing schools through the High Priority Low-Performing Schools Program, the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP), and the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program.
• $77 million to pay the remaining balance of the $144.3 million Governor's Performance Awards earned by schools in 2001-02.
• $6 million in Prop. 98 general fund money and up to $29.1 million in federal Title I funds to support schools working with School Assistance and Intervention Teams or subject to other sanctions pursuant to the II/USP. (Schools will receive at least $75,000 but no more than $125,000 to contract with a team and $150 per pupil to implement academic improvement reforms. A portion of the funds will support a statewide system of intensive support and technical assistance.)

The budget includes $72.4 million to provide a cost-of-living adjustment for special education and $49.9 million to provide funding for program growth. There is also an $8.2 million general fund augmentation for special education, which represents a permanent increase in the base funding level.

A federally-administered after-school program is being converted to a state-administered 21st Century Community Learning Centers After-School Program. Starting in 2002-03, California will receive $42.5 million in CCLC funds for state operations costs and grants to local partnerships between schools and communities to provide academic support and a safe, constructive alternative for school students after the regular school day.

Deferred funding

To adjust the Prop. 98 expenditure flow for state budget accounting purposes, the Legislature deferred the payment of $681 million from the 2002-03 fiscal year to the 2003-04 fiscal year.

The total year's funding for Supplemental Grants ($241.7 million) is delayed, as is the fourth quarter funding for Targeted Instructional Improvement Grants ($184.4 million), Home-to-School Transportation ($139.6 million) and the School Improvement Program ($115.3 million).

In all four cases, the delays may present a cash flow problem, but will not require a decrease in program.

The legislation that deferred the money also contains the August 2003 date for payment. In order for there to be a cut, the Legislature must take specific action. CTA will fight to keep the funding for these programs intact.

Vetoes and set-asides

A total of $143.3 million in Prop. 98 appropriations was vetoed and set aside to be appropriated later in the fiscal year for any increased costs in existing programs, such as enrollment adjustments.

The most notable of the line-item vetoes include:

• Eliminating PERS Reduction funding ($36 million).
• Eliminating revenue limit equalization funding ($42 million).
• Reducing funding for CalWORKS students served through ROC/P adult education programs (cut from $32.9 million to $9.9 million).
• Reducing funding for Healthy Start Support Services (cut from $9 million to $2 million).
• Reducing the charter school categorical block grant by $14 million (the block grant funding levels will decrease in proportion to the categorical funding shifts into 2003-04).
• Reducing funding for the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program (cut from $12.3 million to $10.3 million).
• Eliminating the $1.7 million legislative augmentation intended to expand the existing Family Empowerment Centers on Disabilities (the remaining $23.7 million for this program is left intact).

Higher education

The budget provides the University of California $69.2 million to fund 7,700 additional enrollments, bringing the total to 189,628. For the California State University, the budget includes $97.6 million to fund 15,278 additional enrollments, bringing the total to 321,132. The budget contains $118.7 million for the California community colleges to fund an additional 32,200 students.

For the eighth year in a row, there will be no increase in system-wide fees for resident undergraduate or graduate students at the University of California and the California State University. Student fees at California community colleges will remain at $11 per unit.

To help ensure affordability and access to higher education for deserving students, the budget provides a total of $629.3 million for the four types of Cal Grant awards. This represents an increase of $90 million (17 percent) over the 2001 budget act.