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Legislation Alert
August 23, 2010
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Take Action!
Congress has approved funding for education jobs. Tell your legislators in Sacramento that your schools need this funding NOW! |
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Please call your State Assemblymember, Senator and the Governor to urge them to Support SB 847 so that we can get our teachers, administrators and other critical school staff back to work to serve the needs of our students. |
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Find Your Legislators
click here
Contact the Governor
click here |
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Congress just passed and the President signed into law the Education Jobs Fund, which provides $10 billion to states to save up to 160,000 education jobs. |
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California will receive more than $1.2 billion, which is estimated to save up to 16,500 jobs in our state. |
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The Jobs Fund legislation requires education funds provided to states be spent by local education agencies to prevent teacher layoffs in the 2010-11 school year. It clearly states that these funds are not to be used to supplant or replace state education funding or provide a funding reserve. |
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An estimated 22,000 California teachers received pink slips this spring. Thousands of classified employees were also released. These funds have the potential to return many of the teachers and other critical school staff back to our classrooms and to enable schools to serve the needs of students. |
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States are encouraged to apply immediately. The funds are expected to be allocated within two weeks of the approval of the application. The California Department of Education (CDE) has stated that, in the absence of a state budget, it needs legislative authority in order to disburse the funds to school districts. Earlier this week, California State PTA representatives and other members of the Education Coalition met with Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the Assembly John Perez to discuss the budget and to urge them to support legislation to authorize the disbursement of these funds. |
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As a result, Senator Steinberg has authored SB 847, which authorizes the CDE to disburse the $1.2 billion, less a small portion for state administration, to school districts. As the legislative session is due to end on August 31, there is an urgent need to ensure that this bill passes and goes to the Governor before the end of the session. |
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The method of allocating the funding among local education agencies in California is still under discussion. California State PTA is advocating for a method that provides an equitable distribution among all school districts in the state. We will be working with our partners in the Education Coalition and the CDE this week and will continue to keep our members updated. |
Still No State Budget ... |
| Almost two months after the constitutional deadline of June 30 to pass a state budget, we do not have one in place. The latest budget plan, put forward by the Legislative Conference Committee, rejects the massive cuts to education proposed by the Governor. This plan also acknowledges the $11.2 owed to schools, as a result of an agreement signed into law in July 2009. The conference committee budget recognizes that a budget solution cannot be accomplished through cuts alone and identifies additional revenue sources. It would delay the start of the new corporate tax breaks that were part of last year's budget deal and calls for a new oil severance tax and additional revenue generated from tax reform. Targeted cuts of $8.3 billion are also part of the plan, but the plan rejects the Governor's proposed elimination of CalWORKs and other health and human services programs. |
| However, the conference committee plan calls for the suspension of Proposition 98, the educational funding guarantee. California State PTA is standing with our partners in the Education Coalition in opposition to this suspension. In accordance with Proposition 98, we believe K-12 education should receive its full share of general fund revenues, especially since K-12 education suffered disproportionately in past years when revenues declined. |
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California State PTA representaties have been actively advocating for a budget solution that provides additional revenues to protect education and other critical children's services. When you contact your legislators and the Governor, don't forget to urge them to support a budget solution that does not suspend Proposition 98, and that provides additional revenues to prevent deeper cuts to education and other critical children's services. |
To read the latest Education Coalition position paper on the conference or committee plan, click here. |
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Stay tuned for further information as the budget negotiations committee. |
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