January 16, 2021


Dear PTA members and leaders,

As you may know, Governor Gavin Newsom recently released his 2021-22 budget proposal.

To help you understand its potential impact on education, families and children, we have provided the following summary analysis, written by Carol Kocivar, California State PTA's Legislative Advocate.

At the end of this message we have also included a link to California State PTA’s media statement in response to the budget proposal.


SUMMARY ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED 2021-2022 BUDGET

The proposed California budget for next year targets significant funding to help children, youth and families recover from the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19. This includes more money for housing, health, small businesses, low income families and education.

While the budget picture is unexpectedly rosy this year, projections are for lean years ahead. Because of this, the budget also socks away money for a rainy day to avoid deep cuts in future years.

INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION

The Governor proposes to use some of this year’s economic windfall for three big education priorities.

Pay Down Deferrals

What does this mean? Last year, the state did not have enough money to pay schools the full amount of money they were owed. So they delayed making full payments to schools for the year. This is called a deferral. Last year’s budget deferred $12.5 billion in payments to schools and community colleges. The Governor proposes to pay down $8.4 billion of this in 2021-22. Slightly more than $4 billion would remain deferred until 2022-23.

Money to Open Schools and Expanded Learning

The budget proposes one-time grants totaling $2 billion to help schools offer in-person instruction. These grants can be used for:

1. Salaries for certificated or classified employees providing in-person instruction or services
2. Social and mental health support services provided in conjunction with in-person instruction
3. COVID-19 testing
4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
4. Ventilation and other site upgrades necessary for health and safety

Education organizations want funding for health, safety and testing to be paid with non-Prop. 98 funds, such as federal money.

Also in the budget is $4.6 billion in grants for additional academic support targeting disadvantaged students. This could include summer school, longer school days, community learning hubs, and other locally developed interventions. Expanded learning is a long-time PTA priority.

Cost of Living Adjustment

Last year there was not enough money to pay for an increase in the cost of living for education. This year the state is making up for this by giving a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) of $2.2 billion ongoing.

Other Education Investments

K-12 per-pupil spending is projected to increase from $12,354 this year to $12,648 next year. Other education investments include:

1. Money to support pension payments
2. Training and recruitment for teachers and other educators
3. Special education services for infants, toddlers and preschool
4. Community schools
5. Student mental health
6. Early education
7. School to career data system

INVESTMENTS OUTSIDE OF EDUCATION

Business/individuals

The budget makes significant investments that support children, youth and families who suffered from the economic consequences of the pandemic. California’s unemployment rate increased from a record low of 3.9% in February to a record high of 16.4% in April and May. Small businesses struggled to stay afloat. The budget provides a variety of investments to create a financial recovery. Among the important supports for families is the Golden State Stimulus, a proposed tax refund for low-income earners who suffered economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemic

The pandemic recovery investment includes vaccine distribution, preparing and expanding the health care system for a surge of cases, protecting at-risk populations, and emergency response activities.

You can find additional details about budget investments below:

- K-12 Budget Summary
- COVID-19 Pandemic Response
- Housing and Homelessness
- Labor and workforce development
- Health and Human Resources


MEDIA STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO GOVERNORS BUDGET PROPOSAL

California State PTA recently released a media statement in response to the Governor’s budget plan for 2021-2022.

Click here to read it on our website.


TAKE ACTION!

Apply For a Senior
Scholarship by Feb. 1

If you know a student who might be interested in applying for one of our two senior scholarships, act fast, because the application deadline is February 1!
LEARN MORE

Host Your Own
PTA STEAM Experience

Building science literacy is important. One way to engage families in discovery is by hosting a PTA STEAM Experience – either in person or virtually – using our new toolkit.
LEARN MORE

Registration is open for
Legislation Conference 2021

Our annual Legislation Conference, themed "A Path to Equity," will be all-virtual this year! Join us Feb. 8-9 and learn about matters that are important to California's children and families.
LEARN MORE

This message was sent to tcptawebmaster@gmail.com by californiastatepta@capta.org
2327 L Street, Sacramento, CA, 95816


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