Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1545867
funding from the augmented COLA to fund this addi- tional 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 Commu- nity 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 Clas- sified 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 Emer- gency Block Grant. • Literacy and Math Supports — The budget provides $350 million one-time Prop. 98 funds to extend the Lit- eracy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program, and an additional $50 million for the Math Professional Learning Partnership. See cta.org/budget for more information. And go to pp. 40 and 41 for details about and to 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. I N A H I S T O R I C W I N , all California public school employees will be able to utilize up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave starting Jan. 1, 2027. " This is a transformational win for California educators and families," says CTA Secretary-Treasurer Erika Jones. "And it belongs to every single member who raised their voice!" Paid pregnancy leave is a significant victory for our union, which we have been fighting for for several years. Huge numbers of our member educators organized and campaigned for this leave up and down the state. They gathered signatures, rallied and showed up at the State Capitol to testify and push legislators for support. Thousands of our members also shared their stories of the personal toll that having no leave took on them, their families and their careers. Our Union Wins Paid Pregnancy Leave for Educators 27 S U M M E R 2 0 26