The 2022–23 California budget package marks another historic year of funding for education programs in California, state education officials said. Not only does this budget increase the base funding of the Local Control Funding Formula by approximately $9 billion, a 13 percent increase, it also directs key investments to areas specifically identified by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and the California Department of Education, addressing declining enrollment and funding for mental health services, community schools, literacy programs, universal school meals, and programs focused on improving all student outcomes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am grateful to the Legislature and the Governor for a budget that prioritizes recruiting mental health care providers to serve in our schools, addressing learning gaps, and investing in people and programs to serve all students, especially those most vulnerable, Thurmond said in a news release. “As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, 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.
The budget includes $184 million for teacher and school counselor residency programs and expands an existing $350 million residency program to school counselors; appropriates $1.13 billion for the California Community Schools Partnership Program; includes $250 million to fund intensive literacy action plans in schools with low-income student populations; includes $611 million to continue to fund meals under the state’s new Universal Meals Program; increases Expanded Learning Opportunities Program funding to $4 billion; establishes a new home-to-school transportation funding stream; provides a $7.94 billion Learning Recovery Emergency Fund for local educational agencies, including charter schools, for learning recovery; provides a $3.5 billion Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant; and funds $1.3 billion and intends to fund an additional $2.9 billion in future years for school facility construction and modernization. ■