Prop. 98: Short-changing students by billions

The Governor and State Legislature came to an agreement on a 2026–27 state budget that underfunds Prop. 98’s public education funding guarantee by nearly $4 billion. Violating that guarantee causes serious harm to public schools and contributes to overcrowded, under-resourced, destabilized classrooms.

CTA President David Goldberg expressed disappointment in the Prop. 98 actions of California politicians. “At a time when both public schools and the voting rights of our communities face growing attacks from the federal government, California lawmakers should be standing up for our students and exercising the democratic principles that have made California the nation’s progressive leader,” Goldberg says.

“Ignoring the state constitution, the Governor and Legislature withheld $3.9 billion from the voter-approved Prop. 98 public school funding minimum. This, while also proposing that the role of the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction — the role responsible for the California Department of Education — become an appointed position after millions already voted for candidates in the June primary.”

Final Agreement Includes Major Victories for Our Union

The final budget includes a number of major wins for our union, including paid pregnancy leave for all school employees and a “super” cost-of-living adjustment of 4.31%.

It also includes a $2.4-billion increase in special education funding, $1 billion for community schools and increased investment in expanding the teacher pipeline. Also included is funding for a historic victory after years of fighting — 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave for educators.

“While there were some wins, California families are living in an era of unprecedented economic uncertainty.” Goldberg says. “State leadership must prioritize efforts to increase revenue, especially when California boasts the fourth largest economy in the world, yet educators are forced to regularly fight back against layoffs and cuts to their health benefits.

This creates classroom instability and hurts students. We are committed to continuing to fight alongside our communities for the fully funded schools California students deserve.”

Highlights of the approved budget include:

• Augmented Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) — The budget approves an augmented COLA of 4.31%, which is 1.44% above the statutory 2.87% COLA and 2.01% above the 2025–26 COLA.
• Paid Pregnancy Leave — The budget provides up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave for school staff starting Jan. 1, 2027. It is estimated to cost roughly $218 million per year and school districts must use funding from the augmented COLA to fund this additional
  benefit.
• Special Education Funding Increase — The budget provides $2.4 billion ongoing Prop. 98 funding for special education base rate increases. These funds provide a per-student rate of $1,340. The budget also provides an addition $40 million for low-incidence disability services
  and $40 million for the extraordinary cost pool.
• Community Schools — The budget provides $1 billion in ongoing Prop. 98 funding for the California Community Schools Partnership Program for existing grantees or school sites with an unduplicated pupil percentage of 65% or above. Additionally, it codifies a framework to be adopted by the State Board of Education and updated every five years. The budget reappropriates $84 million one-time Prop. 98 funds to be used for the State Transformational Assistance Center, Secondary School Redesign Pilot Program, and to develop and implement the community schools certification process.
• Educator Workforce — The budget extends the Student Teacher Stipend program with $408 million, the Classified Employees Teacher Credentialing Program with $10 million, and the Golden State Teacher Grant with $10 million. It also allocates $10 million to establish the Bilingual Teacher Pathway Program and $250 million for the Teacher Residency Grant Program. These allocations result in $678 million total one-time Prop. 98 funds for educator workforce and teacher pipeline programs.
• Discretionary Block Grant — The budget includes $5 billion one-time Prop. 98 funds for the Student Support and Professional Development Block Grant and allocates funds based on Average Daily Attendance.
• Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant — The budget provides an additional $757.3 million one-time Prop. 98 funds to augment the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant.
• Literacy and Math Supports — The budget provides $350 million one-time Prop. 98 funds to extend the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program, and an additional $50 million for the Math Professional Learning Partnership.

See CTA Budget for more information. Visit and join our critical “Yes on Prop. 3” campaign (formerly known as the Prop. 55 permanent extension) to keep $15 billion in existing funding for our schools.