California public schools receive record funding under state budget

The California public education system is placing mental health and equitable learning initiatives at the top of its priority list after receiving a record $128.3 billion in funding under the state budget signed Thursday.

The windfall for the state school system comes at a pivotal moment for education officials. Sinking student enrollment and teacher retention rates fell to critical lows during the COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged an already lagging public education system. The new funds, education officials hope, will reinvigorate schools by targeting investment on the state’s most vulnerable student populations.

“California public schools will see a much-needed infusion of investments at a time when students and schools, especially those that have been traditionally underserved, require more support than ever before,” wrote Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of schools, in a news release.

Under the budget, school systems will look to bolster pipelines that can increase support for child mental and behavioral health, trauma-informed care, social-emotional learning and restorative justice. The state will allocate more than $1 billion to partnerships with community schools — public schools that provide services to support their neighborhoods — to help reduce barriers to learning by addressing family needs in underserved areas. Additionally, the budget will expand grant offerings to students pursuing degrees to become mental health clinicians who serve California students.

“Coming out of two of the most difficult years for education in our lifetime, historic funding levels to the state and for education programs will enable us to heal, recover, and thrive—with specific attention to student mental health and closing opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect students of color, students with disabilities, English learners, and students in low-income households,” Thurmond wrote.

At a time when food insecurity has soared in California, impacting more than one in five Californians during the pandemic, this budget will also provide increased relief in the form of expanded meal plans. The budget paves the way for California to become the first state to implement a universal meals program for all students. Under the program, students will have access to breakfast and lunch during the school day, extending a pandemic-era federal provision that provided food relief to families across the nation.

After a May budget proposal drew criticism for failing to invest in home-to-school transportation at all public schools, the final version will establish a new funding stream to address the issue.

“We were very happy to see that the legislature and the governor were able to come to an agreement on home-to-school transportation,” said Troy Flint, chief information officer of the California School Boards Association and one of the initial critics of the omission. “It was so glaring because of how much focus has been placed on making sure kids enroll in school, get back in the classroom and have an opportunity to learn. Home-to-school transportation is an easy way to make gains in those areas.”

One area for progress that remains untouched is school pensions, Flint said. The rising cost of employee pensions, which have more than doubled in recent years, eats into state revenue that could otherwise be used to increase teacher salaries or expand educational programs in poorer communities. Still, Flint and other education officials across the state are lauding the budget for providing generous contributions to areas desperate for relief.