SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement regarding legislative approval of a budget for fiscal year 2007-08:

"On behalf of all Californians who have been impacted by the protracted budget stalemate, I'm relieved that the Legislature has finally approved a balanced budget plan. I applaud the Legislature for approving a spending plan that meets the minimum Proposition 98 guarantee and provides cost-of-living adjustments for our public school operations. This level of funding for public education will allow our schools to maintain ongoing efforts to improve student achievement.

"I am pleased that the budget bill includes funding to continue the Standardized Testing and Reporting or STAR program for students in second grade. This assessment program is an important part of our system of school accountability and our efforts to ensure that students don't fall behind in the early grades.

"I am very disappointed, however, that the Legislature did not make it a priority to support local districts in collecting and maintaining the quality individual student data that our state needs to track graduation and dropout rates and to better measure student performance over time. School district participation in CALPADS, the state's developing longitudinal student data tracking system, is critical to informed decision making. Funding for local data collection and maintenance is vital to improve the accuracy of student data used to assess education programs and target our state's resources most effectively. I will continue to pursue this funding with the Governor and the Legislature in the coming year.

"I also will continue discussions with my fellow policymakers about how we provide adequate funding for our schools so we can prepare all students to compete in the challenging and competitive global economy. Closing the achievement gap between students who are white and their peers who are African American or Latino is the most important part of this effort. I look forward to working with the Governor and Legislature to find ways to ensure our schools are up to this challenge. Doing so is essential to both our students' and our state's long-term economic success."  

"Unfortunately, the delay in passing a budget caused a huge imposition for many of California businesses that provide services to our state's most vulnerable citizens. State-funded childcare centers, for example, faced tremendous financial strain as state funding was put on hold during the budget fight. Many of the individuals who operate these state-funded centers serving 500,000 children had to seek high-interest loans to keep their doors open during the last 51 days. I appreciate these centers' commitment to provide child care services and hope that outstanding payments are quickly made to these centers and other businesses and individuals relying on state funding."