Budget Act for 2017–18: Information

On June 27, 2017, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed the Budget Act of 2017 and related trailer bills, putting into place a spending plan for 2017–18 and a revised spending plan for 2016–17. This letter, prepared by the California Department of Education (CDE) fiscal policy staff, provides information on the budget actions that affect transitional kindergarten through grade twelve (TK–12), adult education, and early education programs.

Copies of this document, as well as other budget-related documents, are available on the CDE Education Budget web page. Official state budget documents are available through the California Department of Finance (DOF) website.

Overview

The budget package demonstrates strong and ongoing support of high-quality public education in California. It balances the allocation of General Fund (GF) revenues between one-time and ongoing expenditures, while making deposits to the Budget Stabilization Account/Rainy Day Fund and maintaining reserves in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. The education budget reflects this balanced approach, committing resources to support the full spectrum of California’s learners, teachers, and educators with increases in general purpose and targeted one-time funding.

Total State expenditures for 2017–18 from all sources is projected to be $183.3 billion, with total GF expenditures of $125.1 billion and a Rainy Day Fund balance of nearly $8.5 billion. When all funding sources are accounted for (federal, state, and local), the Governor’s Budget includes $92.5 billion for K–12 education programs, with total per-pupil spending of $15,521 in 2017–18, compared to $14,898 in 2016–17.

Proposition 98

The increased GF revenues result in a year-over-year increase of $3.1 billion to the Proposition (Prop) 98 minimum funding guarantee in 2017–18, with total funding of $74.5 billion ($52.6 billion state and $21.9 billion local). Since 2011–12, Prop 98 funding for K–12 education has grown by more than $24.1 billion, representing an estimated increase of more than $4,043 per student. On a per-pupil basis, Prop 98 spending for K–12 education is projected to be $11,051 in 2017–18, up from $10,576 in 2016–17.

Local Control Funding Formula

The budget package includes a total of $57.3 billion in Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) funding for school districts and charter schools, including an additional $1.36 billion to school districts and charter schools for the fifth year of LCFF implementation. This funding increase will bring LCFF to an estimated 97 percent of full implementation statewide and reflects a 1.56 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). In addition, the budget package provides roughly $7 million to augment the LCFF resources for county offices of education (COEs) that are not funded above their LCFF Target. Counties eligible for these funds will receive the greater of $18,697 per school district for which they have jurisdiction or $80,000.

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

The budget package includes $76.9 million to fund a 1.56 percent COLA for the following categorical programs outside of LCFF: Special Education, Child Nutrition, Foster Youth, Preschool, American Indian Education Centers, and American Indian Early Childhood Education.

Mandates

The budget package includes for the 2017–18 fiscal year, $876.6 million one-time Prop 98 funding for K–12 local educational agencies (LEAs), to be allocated per unit of average daily attendance (ADA), as reported as the second principal apportionment for the 2016–17 fiscal year. These discretionary funds can be used for any purpose determined by the LEA’s governing board and will reduce the amount of outstanding mandate claims currently on file with the State Controller’s Office. However, legislative intent prioritizes the use of these funds for activities such as deferred maintenance, professional development, and induction for beginning teachers with a focus on relevant mentoring, instructional materials, technology infrastructure, and any other investments necessary to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards, the English Language Development Standards, and the California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS).

The budget package also provides $230.2 million for the K–12 Mandated Programs Block Grant; this amount includes a $3.5 million COLA. It also includes the addition of two mandates to the block grant; Training for School Employee Mandated Reporters is added with $8.5 million and the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) mandate is added without additional funding.

Early Education and Child Care

The budget continues to build on early education and child care programs. Total early education and child care funding for 2017–18 is over $2.9 billion, including $1.1 billion for the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), $528 million for General Child Care, and $292 million for Alternative Payment Programs, for a net increase of $231 million among the three programs in 2017–18. The budget package includes the following:

California State Preschool Program

• $7.9 million Prop 98 funding for rate increases and for an additional 2,959 full-day CSPP slots in 2017–18 pursuant to the 2016–17 budget agreement. (Note: the additional slots are provided in AB 123, which is expected to be adopted soon.)
• An increase to the Standard Reimbursement Rate (SRR) for CSPP as follows:
  • Part-day: $28.32 per child day of enrollment
  • Full-day: $45.73 per child day of enrollment
• The increases take effect July 1, 2017.

General Child Care and Alternative Payment Programs

• An increase to the Regional Market Rates (RMR) ceiling to reimburse provider costs in an amount equal to the greater of the 75th percentile of rates based on the 2016 RMR survey or the RMR ceiling for that region as it existed on December 31, 2017. The rate increases take effect January 1, 2018.
• An increase to the SRR for general child care programs to $45.44 per child day of enrollment, effective July 1, 2017.
• Additional $25 million in ongoing GF support to update the income eligibility to at or below 70 percent of the most recent State Median Income (SMI). Defines ongoing eligibility as at or below 85 percent of the most recent SMI, with 12 month eligibility before requiring eligibility to be recertified.
• Future Alignment of California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 22 and Title 5 for LEA providers:
  • Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to convene a workgroup to provide recommendations on existing Health and Safety requirements currently required under CCR, Title 22, but not included in CCR, Title 5, California Field Act, CCR, Title 24, California Building Standards Code, California Education Code (EC) and the California Health and Safety Code. A report is due from the LAO about the workgroup findings in March 2018.
• $1.8 million GF to the YMCA of West San Gabriel Valley to build a designated child care facility to serve underprivileged and homeless youth.

After School Education and Safety

The budget package provides an increase of $50 million in ongoing Prop 98 funding to the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program to increase provider reimbursement rates, bringing total funding to $600 million. The ASES program was enacted through the 2002 voter-approved initiative, Prop 49. The program funds local after school education and enrichment programs. These programs are created through partnerships between schools and the local community, providing resources to support literacy, academic enrichment, and activities for students in kindergarten through ninth grade.

Equity Performance and Improvement Program

The budget package provides $2.5 million and establishes the Equity Performance and Improvement Program to support and build capacity within LEAs and the CDE to promote equity in California’s public schools. The funds will be apportioned to at least two designated lead agencies which shall be county offices of education to support grants in equal amounts for fiscal years 2017–18 through 2019–20.

English Learners

The budget package provides $437,000 in one-time Title III funding to support standardization of the English learner reclassification process pursuant to legislation.

Refugee Student Support Services

The budget package also includes $10 million for Refugee Student Support Services. These funds will be administered by the California Department of Social Services and allocated based on the eligibility criteria and allocation methodology of the federal Refugee School Impact program. The funds will be provided to school districts impacted by significant numbers of refugee pupils and other eligible populations served by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, to provide additional services to refugee pupils.

Teacher Recruitment and Professional Development

The budget package allocates resources for the following one-time purposes to support teacher preparation and professional development. These resources enhance the state’s efforts to address our teacher shortage, as well as ensure high-quality instruction in our classrooms:

• $25 million for the Classified Employee Credential Program.
• $5 million for Bilingual Teacher Professional Development.
• $11 million in Title II federal funds, previously allocated to the CDE, will be provided to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the California Center on Teaching Careers, to support recruitment and retention of effective educators and school leaders. Grants will prioritize those in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
• $10 million for history-social science and health curriculum and professional development grants.
• $502,000 to the CAASPP Science Academy for professional development of instructional leaders in science content areas on the CA NGSS and the California Science Test.

Academic Content Standards Adoption and Implementation

The budget package includes both state and local resources to support curriculum development and instructional quality. State-level funding includes $948,000 GF to support the adoption of standards, frameworks and curriculum in the following content areas, based on the statutory schedule:

• Ethnic studies model curriculum
• Visual and performing arts standards
• World language standards/frameworks
• Computer science (CS) standards
• CS panel/implementation plan
• Science instructional materials
• Health frameworks
• History-social science instructional materials

Additional funds are also provided to support LEAs in the implementation of recent adoptions in other curriculum content areas, as well as enhance the development of specialized curriculum supports and strategies:

• $5 million one-time funds for a History-Social Science Pilot. These funds will be allocated through San Francisco Unified School District to contract with the California Historical Society in partnership with the California History-Social Science Project to create a free online open K–12 curriculum for history-social science.
• $4 million one-time funding is provided to the California Regional Environmental Education Community Network to provide technical assistance and disseminate information to local education agencies on how to integrate high-quality environmental literacy in curriculum.
• $3 million ongoing funding is provided to the Riverside COE to support access to online educational resources for K–12 schools and students, with direction from State Librarian.

Career Technical Education Pathways Program

The budget package includes one-time funding of $200 million for the third year of the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant program. This program was established in the 2015–16 Budget Act with a commitment to allocate $900 million over three years ($400 million in 2015–16, $300 million in 2016–17 and $200 million in 2017–18). The budget package also appropriates $15.4 million to the CDE for continued funding of the Career Technical Education Pathways program. These funds were previously provided to the CDE through the community college budget. In addition, $4 million is provided to assist the Southern California Regional Occupational Center transition to a fee-supported funding model as LCFF reaches full implementation.

State Special Schools

The budget package includes a $1.7 million re-appropriation of funds provided in the 2016–17 Budget Act for continued construction of a new middle school activity center at the California School for the Deaf-Fremont.

Facilities

The budget package includes accountability and oversight requirements for participants in the School Facilities Program, requiring front-end grant agreements and the addition of facility bond expenditures to the annual K–12 Audit Guide. The budget requires projects funded under the School Facilities Program to be subject to expenditure audits in the annual K–12 Audit Guide, and authorizes participating LEAs to repay audit findings with local funds. In addition, commencing April 1, 2017, participating LEAs are required to annually report expenditures of state funds, including interest, and LEA matching funds in accordance with specified requirements. LEAs shall identify expenditures on a project-by-project basis, reflect completed projects reimbursed within that fiscal year, and clearly indicate projects that have been completed.

Charter Schools

The budget package adopts the Governor’s proposal to increase rates for the Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant Program, including a COLA in future years. Eligible charter schools will receive the lesser of 75 percent of annual facilities rent and lease costs for the charter school or $1,117 per unit of ADA.

Local Control and Accountability Plan Template and California School Dashboard Application

The budget package provides $400,000 GF for CDE to contract with San Joaquin COE. This includes $350,000 to host, maintain, and continue development of the Local Control and Accountability Plan Electronic Template system, and $50,000 to support development of the California School Dashboard mobile application.

California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program

The budget package provides $1.5 million one-time GF to establish the California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program. This grant program will provide grants to school districts, COEs, and charter schools to incentivize purchases of California-grown food and expand the number of freshly prepared school meals that use California-grown ingredients.

Proposition 39: California Clean Energy Jobs Act

The budget provides $376.2 million Prop 39 funding for K–12 schools, including the State Special Schools, and $46.5 million to California Community Colleges in 2017–18. The decrease reflects projected revenue in 2017–18 tied to the corporate tax changes enacted by Proposition 39. Additionally, the encumbrance deadline for LEAs is extended by 12 months to June 30, 2019. Separate legislation also provides authority for the California Energy Commission to allocate unused funds as specified in California Public Resources Code Section 26205.5. (Note: the reallocation provisions are reflected in SB 110 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), which is expected to be adopted soon.)

Proposition 56: Tobacco-Use Prevention Education

The budget package provides $30.4 million in Prop 56 funding and specifies that these funds will either be available to support activities identified in new legislation chaptered by October 15, 2017, or if new legislation is not enacted, the funds shall be provided to the CDE to support existing Tobacco-Use Prevention Education programs. Prop 56 (approved by the voters in 2016) increases excise taxes on tobacco products by $2 a unit, with a percentage of the revenues from the increased tax designated for school programs to prevent and reduce the use of tobacco products by young people.

District of Choice

The budget package extends the district of choice program by five years, until July 1, 2023, and makes various other amendments to the operative provisions of the program. Amendments include enrollment priority based on family income, registration, reporting requirements, and limiting ADA apportionment funding to basic aid (excess tax) school districts that are serving students from non-basic aid districts to 25 percent of the amount that would have been apportioned to the district of residence. Additionally, compliance with EC Section 48301(a) and (b) will be added the annual K–12 Audit Guide.

Budget and Trailer Bills

The Budget Act and trailer bills are as follows:

• Budget Act: AB 97, Chapter 14, signed June 27, 2017
• Education omnibus trailer bill (TB): AB 99, Chapter 15, signed June 27, 2017
• Higher Education: SB 85, Chapter 23, signed June 27, 2017
• Budget Bill Junior: SB 108, Chapter 54, signed July 10, 2017