The Governor and legislative leaders reached a tentative agreement on the state budget late last week.  Throughout the process, California State PTA has been actively engaged; meeting with legislative leaders in Sacramento and urging our members to contact their state representatives to protect funding for education and critical children's services. 

Details of the proposed budget plan are just now surfacing, but it would appear that the current proposal provides funding for K-14 education above that which the Governor had proposed in the May Revision.   Additional severe cuts to child care and CalWORKs programs appear to have been avoided as well in the current proposal. 

At a special briefing for education advocates at the Capitol yesterday, we were advised that although the current proposal does include a suspension of Proposition 98; it avoids directly cutting Revenue Limit funding and would result in $300 per Average Daily Attendance (ADA) above the Governor's May Revise figure.  This is accomplished in part by a $1.7 billion deferral into the 2011-12 school year, which may cause serious cash flow challenges for school districts.  The tentative agreement also purports to create a constitutionally guaranteed maintenance factor as a result of the suspension of Proposition 98, ensuring that schools will receive the funding owed to them in the future.

The Budget Conference Committee is scheduled to meet this afternoon at 1:30, and votes on the floors of the Senate and Assembly are expected tomorrow.  We will continue to monitor the process closely and keep you updated once official legislative language is in print.