May 14, 2020

Today is a sad day for California and the prospect of a sound education for millions of the state’s neediest students. California’s low-income students, students of color, English learners, and foster youth have historically borne the brunt of the poorest educational opportunities in our schools and the poorest outcomes. These educational inequities have been laid bare and made worse by the pandemic. The massive cuts precipitated by the unprecedented COVID-19 economic downturn require all of us to do more to respond to this crisis.

To avoid throwing more salt into the wounds caused by COVID-19 among our school communities, we call on the Governor and the legislature to protect high-need students from the cuts to LCFF funding. The proposed 10% reduction in LCFF funding should be limited to base grants so that all districts will experience cuts to the core equally, while supplemental and concentration grant funds for programs serving high need students should be held harmless. LCFF has begun to help turn the tide toward an equitable school system in California. To maintain the equity at the heart of LCFF, the state should continue to honor its promise of doing more for the neediest students.

Secondly, we urge the Governor and the Legislature to explore and support more options for raising revenues. New revenues need to play a larger role in addressing this historic budget deficit. Emergency federal stabilization funds are a short-term imperative, but our leaders also need to support other equity-minded options for new revenues such as the Schools and Communities First ballot initiative slated for November.

We applaud the Governor’s proposed strategic use of federal CARES Act funds to invest in the restoration of the learning loss our students are experiencing, to further develop the community schools that are desperately needed at this time to strengthen vulnerable communities and to address the mental health and social and emotional trauma our neediest students are experiencing. These are smart uses of CARES Act dollars. However, to truly address the magnitude of the learning loss and trauma being experienced in our schools and to truly satisfy the need for schools that serve as communal centers of safety and belonging, our leaders, our school system and our citizens will need to do more.

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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity.