May 2015 Governor's Budget Revision for 2015-16

On May 14, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown released the May Revision to his budget proposal for the 2015-16 fiscal year. The May Revision is the final update to economic assumptions and revenue estimates before the 2015-16 budget is approved in June. The proposal includes an increase to the Proposition 98 school funding guarantee of $6.1 billion for ongoing ($2.7 billion) and one-time ($3.4 billion) funding for California's K-14 schools above the January estimates. See the CCSA Budget Brief for more details.

June 2014 Governor's Final Budget

On June 15, 2014 Governor Brown released the final budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The proposed funding increases from the May Revision are increased and some new one-time funding to further assist with Common Core implementation is included. Click here to read the CCSA Final Budget Brief.

May 2014 Governor's Budget Revision for 2014-15

On May 13, 2014, Governor Brown released the May Revision to budget proposal for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The proposal retains ongoing and one-time funding increases for California's schools over the 2013-14 budget, including funds for continued implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula, and elimination of payment deferrals.

January 2014 Governor's Budget Proposal for 2014-15

On January 9, Governor Jerry Brown released his January Budget Proposal for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The CCSA 2014-15 January Budget Proposal is now available. The budget reflects significant increases for schools, using those increases to restore cuts from prior years and to pay down the "wall of debt" remaining from the recession.

May 2013 Revise to the Governor's Budget Proposal for 2013-14

On May 21, Governor Jerry Brown released his May revise to his state budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year. CCSA's 2013-14 May Revise is now available. This Budget Proposal contains good news for most charter schools, proposing more equity in funding between charters and their traditional counterparts.

January 2013 Governor's Budget Proposal for 2013-14

On January 10, Governor Jerry Brown released his state budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year. This is the first step in the budget approval and negotiation process that will continue through next June. CCSA's 2013-14 Governor's Budget Brief is now available. This Budget Proposal begins to pay back some deferrals, proposes some increased funding for schools, and begins the process of a more equitable funding model for charter schools compared to traditional schools.

June 2012 Governor's Final Budget

On June 27, Governor Brown signed the 2012-13 budget. The budget maintains current funding levels for schools and begins to pay back some deferrals, but is contingent upon voter approval of the Governor's initiative in November. CCSA’s
2012-13 Final Budget Brief is now available.          

May 2012 Governor's Budget Revision

Funding uncertainty continues for educators in California. According to the California Department of Education's 2011-12 Second Interim Status Report, approximately 42% of California children attend a school in a district that anticipates running out of cash in either 2012-13 or 2013-14. Think about that one - almost half of the students in this state are attending a district anticipating bankruptcy!

On May 14th Governor Brown released the May Revision to his 2012-13 budget proposal. Funding levels for education are very uncertain as they are based on the success or failure of a November 2012 ballot measure which increases taxes. We will not know our funding levels again this coming year until the year is almost half over. Click here to read the CCSA Budget Brief on funding levels and how charter schools are affected.

January 2012 Comparing Charter and District Funding - LAO Report

The 1992 legislation that authorized charter schools in California created a funding model intended to  provide charter schools with the same per-pupil operational funding as received by other schools in the same school district. The state subsequently modified this policy in 1998, enacting legislation  specifying that “charter school operational funding shall be equal to the total funding that would be available to a similar school district serving a similar pupil population.” This policy remains in place. In  this report, we assess whether operational funding received by charter schools and their school district peers is comparable. We (1) describe the funding models used for charter schools and school districts, (2)  compare funding rates for the two groups, and (3) provide recommendations to simplify the funding system, maximize flexibility for both
school types, and equalize funding rates for charter schools under the current funding system or under a fundamentally restructured system.  Read the full LAO Report.                        

December 2011 Budget Update

On December 13th the California Department of Finance (DOF) issued its economic forecast for the remainder of the 2011-12 fiscal year.  According to the DOF projections, the state General Fund revenues will fall short by $2.2 billion compared to the initial budget assumptions. These estimates are much improved over the projections provided by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) last month, and will spare K-12 education from the most severe mid-year cuts.  However, under these projections, school districts will face a $248 million cut to transportation programs, and all schools will experience a $79.6 million cut to general purpose revenue limits.  This results in a cut of approximately $13 per pupil in K-12 schools, or one-half a day of instruction for the school year. Much better than we were expecting.

November 2011 Budget Update

On November 16th the Legislative Analyst Office released its economic foreecast report, the 2012-13 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook.  According to the report, state General Fund revenues will be short by $3.7 billion by the end of this year, and the state will face a $13 billion shortfall in 2012-13.  The revised revenue forecast is a critical point in evaluating whether automatic “trigger” cuts to education will be implemented in January.  If these projections are confirmed by department of Finance in December, automatic cuts of $2 billion will be imposed in January. For charter schools this will mean a mid-year cut of approximately $185 per pupil in general purpose funds. For FRCS this is a loss in revenue of approximately $20,000. On the upside, our Board predicted this event and built this cut into our current budget.

July 2011 State Budget Update - Are MidYear Cuts for Schools Looming?

State Controller John Chiang has reported that for the first month of the new fiscal year, California missed its $5.2 billion July general fund revenue target by $538.8 million, or 10.3 percent.  As you may recall from the CCSA Budget Brief, this year’s budget contains an automatic “trigger” to force additional cuts to education and other public services if revenues fall short of projections. Because the Department of Finance has until December to determine whether the state is on track to hit its revenue target, it is clearly premature to assess where the state will be in December based on only one month of receipts. However, that news and the recent downturn in the financial markets add additional concerns about the optimistic projections for state revenues assumed in the approved budget.  Even though the current law would trigger automatic cuts, lawmakers will likely face pressure to avoid K-12 cuts before the automatic reductions are triggered in February even if the revenues fall short. We will update you as new information is available.