2010 Budget - Will Education Be Sacrificed Again?

In his State of the State address, Gov Schwarzenegger said he was going to protect eductation from further cuts. But did his proposed budget, released last Friday, really do that? The details point toward further cuts to schools.

The budget released by the Governor proposed some maneuvering that will reduce the funding baseline for schools guaranteed by Proposition 98. As the California School Boards Association explains, “In the past, the governor and Legislature have manipulated the minimum funding guarantee to lower levels and then claimed to have ‘protected’ schools by funding them at that new, artificially reduced level.”

Proposition 98 put in place a formula that says that K-14 schools must receive at least 39% of all General Fund revenues. This was intended to be a baseline, with a built in increase to schools each year. During these terrible budget years, the state has used the Proposition 98 guarantee as a ceiling rather than as a floor. And as general fund revenue decreases, the amount set aside for schools can be cut.

In this year's proposed budget, the Governor estimates that since last year's revenue came in lower than projected, education's Proposition 98 guarantee is $1.5 billion less in 2010-11 than what it would otherwise be under current law. Another trick the Governor proposes is to eliminate the gasoline sales tax and increase the fuel excise tax. In essence, that shifts money from the general fund, which reduces the floor for education funding even more.

The latest estimate is that the Governor's budget would result in a decrease in per pupil funding of $190 per student. For our district, that means an additional reduction of nearly $1.6 million in 2010-2011. So we are now having to build that additional deficit into our plans for next year.

Setting aside education funding, the Governor proposes gutting crucial social services, such as CalWorks, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and food assistance programs, among others. The effect of this will be felt in the schools, as children from families in need will come to school without adequate nutrition and health. And it will be left to the schools to provide support for students who are not getting it elsewhere. All of these services are interconnected, so these budget cuts are bad for the future of our state.

You might ask - During such unprecedented fiscal times, do we have any choice? Well, there are all kinds of ways to increase revenues that would help offset the cuts being proposed. It is time for the legislature to insist on increasing revenue, rather than continuing to gut our crucial social and education services. Here are 10 policies that could bring in $20 billion in additional revenue to the state without harming economic growth and recovery.

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Next week, I'll discuss the priorities for cuts that the Board discussed last night at our Study Session. I expect a robust discussion in the months ahead as we grapple with the enormous budget hole.

(originally posted 1/13/2010)