Thank you chairman (Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Senator Jack Scott) for this opportunity to discuss the Governor's budget proposal for education.
Overall, this budget plan fully funds Proposition 98 and provides a 4.04 percent cost-of-living adjustment. We've certainly experienced more difficult years, but for most school districts this budget would merely maintain the status quo, offering little to no room for maneuvering, innovating or expanding programs that are working for students.
My top priority and that of most educators in this state is closing the achievement gaps that threaten the futures of too many of our students and indeed the future of this state.
One of the most essential tools for addressing the achievement gap in our schools is teacher professional development. So i am pleased that this budget continues funding for the state's reading and math professional development program, including $25 million to address the needs of students who are learning English.
It does not, however, fund vitally important professional development in science for our teachers, and I urge you to do so as budget deliberations continue. Our state faces a critical shortage of well-prepared science teachers. Given the demands of this technological, highly skilled global economy, our students need effective science instruction more than ever before.
The budget also adds money for career technical education, and I strongly support expansion of rigorous career technical education programs. I would urge the legislature to accomplish this by expanding the successful model we have in our K-12 system, the California Partnership Academies
These Academies link high schools with businesses, labor and community partners to provide rigorous real-world content to our students. They are showing great progress in engaging students, improving achievement and preparing students to succeed in both college and the workplace.
Elsewhere, the Governor's budget proposes two funding shifts that I believe are detrimental to California public schools.
I urge you to reject his proposal to shift home-to-school transportation funding from Proposition 98 to the public transportation account. This is a risky proposition that both puts school transportation programs at risk and reduces the Proposition 98 funding base by $627 million.
I'm also troubled by the Governor's proposal to use $269 million in Proposition 98 funds to pay for CalWorks child care programs that have traditionally been federally funded.
Primarily because of this proposal there is virtually no room within the Proposition 98 guarantee to fund new or expanded programs.
Federal funding will also be flat in state fiscal year 2007-08 except for modest increases in a couple of programs.
I am advocating that congress increase funding for education programs and am engaged in efforts to reauthorize and improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
As I'm sure you're aware, special education costs also have a tremendous financial impact on local school districts, and the Governor's budget does not provide a cost-of-living adjustment for the federal special education funds.
This has the effect of requiring districts to contribute a larger share of special education costs, and hits especially hard this year because the federal funds are not increasing as they have in the past.
The budget also under-funds the state meal program by $38 million at a time when we need high quality nutritious school meals more than ever to help address a crisis in childhood obesity.
Finally, there are two important issues facing our public school system that the budget fails to address.
More than half of our school districts are experiencing declining enrollment, and because of fixed costs in some cases this means programs and services to students must be cut.
It's important that we continue conversations about ways to minimize sudden impacts of this demographic trend.
And I am disappointed and frankly perplexed that the Governor's proposal does not include funding to assist districts to gather and report accurate data for our statewide longitudinal data system CalPADS.
This system will at long last provide our state with a way to accurately track dropouts and report graduation rates, and enable our schools to more quickly and efficiently provide transferring students with the services they need. It's the critical piece we need to have the kind of transparent school data system the Governor has said he supports.
But in order to collect from our schools the quality data that's necessary to build a quality system, we need to assist districts in training and staffing.
I've submitted a budget proposal to provide these resources – just $5 per pupil, $32 million a year, to support district efforts in training and staffing—so that they understand and have the resources to research, obtain and report accurate information on students.
We know the costs of student dropouts are high -- to individuals, to society and to the economy; local assistance for data collection efforts will help ensure that we get the information necessary to truly address the problem.
Next week, we'll hear the results of a major research project that examines the way we fund our schools and looks at what barriers we face when it comes to closing those gaps and truly preparing all students for a successful future. I look forward to deep and broad discussions this year about changing the way we fund and operate our schools. It's time we examine the available research and consider how we can serve students more efficiently and also how we can provide the level of funding that is needed to truly make our education system competitive in a global economy.
I look forward to a day when the annual state budget process does not so greatly impact our schools' ability to serve student needs in any given year – to a day when school funding is itself driven by student needs.
Meanwhile, i look forward to working with you and the entire legislature, the administration and education stakeholders over the next several months as updated revenue information comes in and the budget process continues.
Thank you.
