Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1208082
to preparing and retaining teachers in high-need subject areas in high-need communities; $100 million for $20,000 stipends for fully credentialed teachers who complete four years of teaching service in a high-need subject at a high-need school; $64.1 million to expand a program that provides grants to K-12 local education agencies (LEAs) to recruit noncertificated school employees to become certificated classroom teachers. " The $900 million for attracting and recruiting educators will help us make progress toward ensuring our students have teachers who look like them and who are qualified in the areas they teach like special education, math and science," Boyd says. Early childhood education. $5 million one-time General Fund for a long-term strategic plan to provide a road map to universal preschool and a comprehensive, quality, affordable child care system. is includes: • Kindergarten and preschool facilities. $400 million one-time non-Prop. 98 General Fund for the grant to convert part-day kindergarten programs into full-day programs; and $75 mil- lion one-time Prop. 98 General Fund for LEAs to construct or modify preschool facilities to serve students with excep- tional needs or severe disabilities. • Preschool slots. $31.9 million in 2020-21 and $127 million ongoing non-Prop. 98 General Fund for an additional 10,000 state preschool slots at non-LEAs beginning April 1, 2021. Community colleges. The governor's budget provides an increase of $370.1 million Prop. 98 General Fund for community colleges, compared to the 2019-20 budget. Highlights: • An increase of $167.2 million for a 2.29 percent cost-of-living adjustment. • An increase of $31.9 million for enrollment growth. • An increase of $83.2 million for creation of apprenticeship opportunities in priority and emerging industry sectors. • An increase of $15 million for a pilot fellowship program for improving faculty diversity at community colleges and an increase of $10 million for part-time faculty office hours. • An increase of $11.4 million to establish or support food pantries on campus. • An increase of $10 million to develop and implement zero- textbook-cost degrees using open educational resources. • An increase of $10 million to provide legal services to immi- grant students, faculty and staff on campus. e final budget must be approved by the Legislature and will be updated in May. Despite California's economy consistently expanding (it's now ranked fifth largest in the world), the state ranks 39th in the nation in per-pupil funding, has the most overcrowded class- rooms in the country, and suffers from some of the worst ratios of students to counselors and nurses. "is is why we are supporting the Schools and Communities First (SCF) initiative and why educators are working to get it on the November ballot," says Boyd. "SCF guarantees the long-term, steady funding stream that our schools and local communities need. By closing corporate property tax loopholes, we can ensure that $12 billion every year gets reclaimed locally for our schools and local communities." Proposition 98 P R O P . 9 8 , P A S S E D by California vot- ers in 1988, guarantees a minimum level of funding for public schools and community colleges. These are funds raised primarily through income, sales, corporate and capital gains taxes (the state's General Fund), combined with local property tax revenues. The guar- anteed amount is calculated each year using one of three formulas that apply under varying fiscal and economic conditions. They factor in such criteria as annual changes in statewide K-12 student attendance, per capita per- sonal income, and per capita General Fund revenues. "We applaud [Gov. Newsom] for making strong allocations to address the needs of students and the critical teacher shortage in this state." —CTA President E. Toby Boyd 37 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 0 A