The last time we did headlines, we spotlighted a UTLA tweet that warned of a massive budget fight coming to school districts. Last week, Governor Newsom released his proposed school budget for next year. According to KPCC/LAist Education reporter Kyle Stokes, there are pretty sever cuts, but it could be worse.
“The news could’ve been worse for schools. Because California law closely ties education funding with state revenues, schools could’ve lost billions more. But Newsom proposed a series of temporary measures — including injecting another $4.4 billion of federal coronavirus relief money directly into district budgets — to backfill some of the revenue loss.
Another silver lining: Newsom also refused to roll back a proposal for a 15% increase in spending on special education, which is funded separately from the rest of the K-12 program.”
Stokes goes on to outline other things that could come into play that could spare districts from more cuts: federal aid, new funding approved by voters, and action by the legislature.
The California State Association of Teachers is urging members to call Congress and support two funding sources: (i) ask for school funding in the HEROES act and (ii) ask for funding to improve Internet access for people of lesser means.
There was also a lot of discussion of re-opening for schools and what that could look like. State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond opined that openings will look different for different schools and different districts.
“Students and teachers will likely wear masks when schools do reopen, he added.
Thurmond also said “shift learning” may be the answer to create smaller class sizes for physical distancing and that some districts may opt for hybrid in-person and virtual learning.
“Students may come in a morning shift. And then another group of students may come in an afternoon shift.”
Sign-up for LAUSD Summer School begins today at noon (or began Monday, May 18 at noon depending when you read this). Sign-up for optional classes via their web portal, here.
Stokes also reports that LAUSD is only providing support for about 40% of the students that it can with a regular learning school environment. The District cites a higher figure, and LAUSD uses a hotline for reaching ever more students, and families, in need of counseling or just looking for information on how to get a hot meal.
