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K thru 12 Education
Major Accomplishments in 2006-07
In its 2006-07 Budget, California made historic investments in the education of its children. The Budget contained significant increases in funding for California's schools, including $534 million in discretionary block grants for school districts and school sites. Total funding increased by nearly $3 billion to the highest level in state history. The state will provide $2.9 billion to K-12 schools and community colleges in a settlement agreement to reconcile the Proposition 98 calculation. The 2006-07 Budget fully funded cost-of-living adjustments, provided $957 million to fund K-12 education mandated costs, including paying prior-year claims and increased general purpose revenue limit funding by $2.3 billion, which included eliminating the deficit factor and providing $350 million for equalization.
Initiatives implemented in 2006-07 include the following:
CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION
The Budget contained $100 million for public schools and community colleges, including $20 million in ongoing funding, to support career technical education (CTE) programs. Funding is designed to support collaborative efforts between the community colleges and K-12 CTE programs. The activities in this program (sequencing and articulation of courses, curriculum development and course expansions) are intended to reinvigorate CTE programs so students will have the skills necessary to effectively compete in a global economy. The Budget also provided one-time funding of $80 million to K-14 public schools ($40 million) and community colleges ($40 million) for the purchase of CTE equipment and materials. (See additional detail in Higher Education Chapter.)
ARTS AND MUSIC BLOCK GRANT
The Budget provided $105 million in ongoing funding to restore and expand the number of high-quality art and music courses offered in the schools. The Arts and Music Block Grant program will support standards-aligned instruction through activities such as hiring additional staff, implementing or increasing staff development opportunities and purchasing materials, books, supplies and equipment. The Budget included a one-time $500 million grant to allow schools to purchase arts, music and/or physical education supplies, equipment and professional development.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION GRANTS
In an ongoing effort to address the widespread incidence of obesity and physical inactivity in school children, the Budget included $40 million to provide physical education (PE) incentive grants for elementary and middle schools. These grants will be used to hire additional credentialed PE teachers to increase the quality of PE instruction.
SCHOOL COUNSELORS
The Budget included $200 million in ongoing funding to increase the number of school counselors serving seventh through twelfth grade students. These funds will be used to inform students about educational and career options and help them stay on track to complete high school graduation requirements and pass the California High School Exit Examination.
TARGETED PRESCHOOL INITIATIVE
The Budget provided $50 million to expand preschool opportunities for four-year olds residing near low-performing schools. This funding will implement provisions of Chapter 211, Statutes of 2006 (AB 172), that include quality reforms designed to promote family literacy. To address facility needs for preschool expansion, the Budget provided an increase of $50 million in one-time funds for the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund.
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM
In 2002, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 49 to significantly expand access to before- and after-school programs. Proposition 49 required that the After School Education and Safety Program be fully funded when state General Fund expenditures reached a certain level. Because this level of expenditures was reached in 2006-07, the Budget increased funding by $428 million, from $122 million to $550 million annually. This program supports high quality after-school activities that provide elementary and middle school students with a safe and enriching environment during high risk periods of the day.
PROPOSITION 98 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
Chapter 751, Statutes of 2006 (SB 1133), provided $2.9 billion as part of a settlement agreement related to Proposition 98 funding requirements. Resources provided by the settlement legislation include a $2.6 billion investment in our lowest performing schools. This funding is paired with an accountability framework and a set of programmatic requirements aimed at improving student academic achievement. Participating schools will be required to reduce class sizes, ensure access to school counselors and experienced teachers, provide high quality professional development for teachers and achieve significant improvements in student academic achievement. The bill supports career technical education opportunities with a $320 million investment in Community Colleges. These resources will expand career technical education opportunities and allow for the hiring of additional faculty to build these programs.
TEACHER CREDENTIALING REFORMS
The 2006-07 Budget provided $22.7 million to implement the provisions contained in Chapter 517, Statutes of 2006 (SB 1209). The bill establishes a new mentoring program for novice teachers in Academic Performance Index (API) deciles 1 to 3 schools, expands and enhances the Alternative Certification Program, requires an intensive evaluation of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program and creates six regional personnel management assistance teams to provide technical assistance in personnel management and teacher recruitment and retention practices. The initiative streamlines requirements for out-of-state teachers, strengthens teacher preparation pathways and requires the examination of any unnecessary roadblocks to credentialing, including duplicative examinations and other redundant requirements.
REDUCING CREDENTIALING PROCESSING BACKLOG
In order to resolve a backlog in applications that were well beyond the regulatory time limit of 75 days, the 2006-07 Budget redirected four existing professional positions in the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to create seven technical positions in its Credentialing, Assignments and Waivers Division. These positions have successfully reduced the backlog of more than 77,000 applications to just over 44,000 as of October 2006 and reduced the processing time to less than 75 days for both credential renewals and university recommended credentials for new teachers.
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS for
K thru 12 Education Back to Top
PRINTABLE BUDGET DOCUMENTS Back to Top
Budget Summary - K thru 12 Education (pdf * - 138K)
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Provides this entire K thru 12 Education Chapter in pdf format.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Back to Top
Proposed Budget Detail - K thru 12 Education
Displays Proposed Budget Detail information for K thru 12 Education.
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