SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — With tax collections at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the bleak education cuts headlining California Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget bill last week hardly surprised employees at the state’s 10,000 schools. But news of a multibillion-dollar shortfall slated for K-12 schools nonetheless jarred an embattled education system still recovering from the last global financial crisis.
Making matters worse, Newsom’s proposed cuts come as districts have been forced to take on unprecedented loads: schools are scurrying to provide millions of students with lunches and laptops while figuring out how to shift to online learning on the fly. Some districts, including the state’s three largest, claim the governor’s cuts could delay the start of the next school year.
The pandemic-induced recession along with the staggering task of prepping teachers and campuses for social distancing learning has administrators and lawmakers prepping for a storm of cuts likely to rival the Great Recession.
“The type of numbers we’re looking at, there’s really no way to reduce our budget without impacting people,” said Kevin Bultema, assistant superintendent at Chico Unified School District.
Budget woes & Newsom’s fix
During a 75-minute press conference last week, Newsom ran through the state’s suddenly torched finances and announced across-the-board cuts due to what his administration believes is a $54 billion deficit.
There were few winners in the revised budget, but the largest loser was without a doubt the state’s 1,000 local school districts and their 6 million students. Compared to Newsom’s robust January proposal, the May revision calls for a 19% reduction in funding for K-12 education.
The precipitous decrease is spurred largely by slowed income, corporate and sales tax revenues that drive the state budget and are constitutionally tied to education funding.
In the late 1980s, voters seeking to level the playing field and prop underfunded school districts approved an initiative that guarantees minimum funding levels for K-12 and community colleges. The formula created by Proposition 98 effectively mandates the state dedicate 40% of its General Fund to schools.
With the economy at a standstill and tax collections delayed, the May proposal assumes a 22% drop in revenue compared to the January plan. Furthermore, the troubling decline equals a $19 billion cut in required Proposition 98 funding
Hoping to brace schools, Newsom has proposed a variety of actions to backfill the loss and bring education funding to the minimum level required. He wants to pull $4.4 billion from the state’s slice of the federal pandemic relief, commit to increasing education spending in subsequent years 1.5% above the minimum guarantee, allow districts to temporarily reduce their pension obligations and slash most of the new education programs introduced in the January blueprint.
The overriding crutch of Newsom’s plan, however, is the federal government: he acknowledges the education cuts would be “devastating” but claims they can be largely avoided if Congress and President Donald Trump send the states more relief.
“The federal government, we need you; these cuts can be negated and dismissed with your support. This is your moment,” Newsom said this month.
Schools on life support
The stunning reversal — Newsom had proposed record education spending in his ill-fated January plan — has districts of all sizes staring down budget deficits and layoffs.
Located in Northern California’s agricultural rich Sacramento Valley, Chico Unified School District spans 23 schools and boasts 12,000 students. The district, which is operating on a $150 million budget, expects to lose up to $12 million in state funding.
Like most California school districts, the vast majority of Chico’s budget each year goes to staff salaries, making it increasingly likely that next year’s plan will lead to job losses and cuts to after-school programs.
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