Newsom signs budget for California’s public schools

(The Center Square) – Gov. Gavin Newsom joined lawmakers and educators Thursday for the signing of a historic California budget for public education.

The investments include a $4.1 billion multi-year commitment to community schools and $2.4 billion on special education. That is a 43% year-over-year increase for special education, which Newsom said is the largest hike in the state’s history in that field.

Meanwhile, the budget also calls for the expansion of dual-enrollment college credit opportunities, updated middle and high school curriculum, 14 weeks of paid family/pregnancy leave for teachers and targeted recruitment for high-demand areas such as bilingual education.

Speaking in a press conference at Davis Joint Unified School District, Newsom shared personal childhood experiences, such as his mother’s work with special needs adoptions and his own struggles with reading and learning disabilities.

“All of us learn differently, and so we have to do things differently,” the Democratic governor said at the Central Valley news conference. “Two point four billion dollars – a 43% increase year over year – you don’t hear numbers like that. You’ve never heard a number like that in California.”

Newsom encouraged lawmakers and educators to continue pushing for reforms. He noted education reform is not one big idea where someone gets done, then walks away.

“It’s about a habit,” said Newsom. “It’s a process.”

Davis schools Superintendent Matt Best said education is inspiring, challenging and rewarding. He added that it is only possible when educators have the resources and the vision to make it happen.

“Public education transforms lives,” said Best. “It cultivates the potential in each and every student throughout our state.”

Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-San Diego, shared his personal story of being a first-generation college graduate and the son of immigrants with limited education.

“My parents never even had a first-grade education, and yet because of what California promised to generations in the past and with this bill, we continue to promise into the future,” said Alvarez. “To address the teacher pipeline issue, we are now going to be offering teachers paid family leave – 14 weeks so that teachers can actually enter the profession and know that they can actually start a family.”

But not everyone is a fan of the state’s approach to public schools.

“Governor Newsom touts the added billions of tax dollars he is directing to his favored education programs, yet the question is whether there will be significant returns on his investment to justify the increased spending,” said Lance Izumi, senior director of the Center for Education Studies. The center is part of the Pacific Research Institute in Pasadena.

“Will there be performance benchmarks for this added spending so that taxpayers can tell whether they are getting bang for the bucks they send to Sacramento?” Izumi told The Center Square late Thursday afternoon, answering questions by email.

“While Newsom is pouring huge amounts into expanding transitional kindergarten, will there be long-lasting improvement in student performance as a result of the program? Research in states like Tennessee show that such early childhood programs do not increase learning over time,” Izumi said.

“In addition, Newsom’s push to expand community schools, which incorporate a whole array of government welfare services at schools sites, dramatically increases the reach of government into family life and decision making, which is no doubt why community schools and state spending on them are so strongly backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the teachers unions,” Izumi said.