July 12, 2000

memorandum

To:                   CCEA Executive Committee

From:               Peter Birdsall & Theresa Inslee

Subject:            2000-01 State Budget

On June 30, 2000, Governor Davis signed the state budget.  The budget agreement includes the following key provisions with regard to one-time and on-going funding. 

One-time Funding

A $180 million school site block grant was approved, and is to be distributed based on the following formula:

School Site Minimum.  Each school site is provided a minimum of $10,000.  A school site is defined to include any self-contained public school site with a separate county-district-school (CDS) code, as maintained by the Superintendent as of June 30, 2000 and in operation during the 2000-01 school year.  Two or more schools that share a physical site or staff shall be considered a single school site.  This includes charter schools.

Per ADA Distribution.  Funds will be distributed on a per-ADA basis, with each school receiving at least the $10,000 minimum grant.  Calculations will include adult education and ROCP ADA.  We estimate this amount to be approximately $29 per ADA.

Funds are to be used in accordance with a plan proposed by the school site council, subject to the approval of the district governing board.  The school site council and local governing board must agree on the use of the funds by May 1, 2001 or the funds are returned to the state.  Acceptable uses of funds include:

• Instructional materials;
• Staff development;
• Computers;
• Education technology, such as software and wiring;
• Library materials;
• Deferred maintenance;
• Enrichment activities;
• Tutoring services; and
• Any other one-time purpose.

$245 million for the School District Block Grant which will provide a block grant of approximately $41 per ADA.  The funding for this grant may increase because after March 15, 2001, any unspent funds in the educational technology grant program for grades 9-12 will be transferred to the school district block grant --the educational technology grant received a $175 million appropriation.  ADA that is included in the block grant consists of regular, ROCP, adult education, and charter schools.  The funds may be used for school safety, deferred maintenance, facilities improvement, technology staff development, and education technology connectivity.

The final agreement includes $350 million for school and staff bonuses.  This funding will be divided in half to provide $175 million as discretionary grants to the school sites and $175 million to be allocated as bonuses to all staff (including classified) at those school sites.  Eligible school sites would be all those which met their growth target for the 2000 API. 

On-going Funding

There were several significant developments with regard to on-going funding.  They are as follows:

• The Governor agreed to increase funding for summer school/supplemental instruction by $40 million.  This includes increasing the hourly rate from $2.53 in 1999-00 to $3.25 in 2000-01.
• $35 million was appropriated to raise the minimum teacher salary to $34,000.  Districts will also be eligible for funding if they have already increased their beginning salaries to the $34,000 minimum. 
• $118 million was allocated for a Teacher Recruitment and Retention Block Grant.  Funding will be divided based on the number of students enrolled in low-performing schools in the school district.  Low-performing schools are those that are ranked below the 50^th percentile.  Funds may be used for the following purposes:

(a) Block grant funds may be used at the discretion of a school
district for teacher recruitment and retention incentives with the
target of reducing the number of teachers on emergency permits.
Incentives shall only be used to hire and retain credentialed
teachers.  Teacher recruitment and retention incentives may include,
but are not limited to, all of the following:

   (1) Signing bonuses.
   (2) Improved work conditions.
   (3) Teacher compensation.
   (4) Housing subsidies.

Governor’s Vetoes

Although the Governor approved major increases in state funding for K-12 education, he “blue penciled” funding for several programs, including school safety grants for grades K-7 ($61.2 million) and county office of education equalization ($8.9 million).  Of particular interest to CCEA, the Governor also vetoed language concerning the API evaluation of alternative schools.

Specifically, Governor Davis reduced by $100,000 the funding for an expanded evaluation of the Public School Accountability Act. 

 “I am deleting the $100,000 legislative augmentation to expand the evaluation of the Public Schools Accountability Act to include the effects of that act on alternative schools.  The implementation of the alternative accountability system required by the Public Schools Accountability Act makes a study of this issue irrelevant.”

He also revised Provision 18 of this item as follows to conform to these actions.

“18.  Of the amount appropriated in this item, $250,000 is provided for the purpose of contracting with an independent consultant for an evaluation of the implementation of the Public School Accountability Act, as established by Chapter 3, First Extraordinary Session, Statutes 1999.  This evaluation shall also include an assessment of the following: (1) The extent to which enrollment in alternative schools, as defined in Chapter 3X, of the First Extraordinary Session of 1999, has increased since the enactment of the Public Schools Accountability Act, (2)  the extent to which any enrollment increases were a result of the act and the schools’ attempts to improve their performance by encouraging low performing pupils to attend alternative schools, and (3)  the growth in school achievement in alternative schools as measured by the alternative accountability system, compared to the regular schools these pupils would have otherwise attended.  The reporting and delivery deadlines for the evaluation of these questions shall be the same as for the overall evaluation of the Public Schools Accountability Act.