Schools Saved, But At What Cost?
California Gov. Jerry Brown has come up with a new budget plan that not only preserves K-12 education funding, but adds an additional $3 billion, according to the Bay Citizen. The extra cash comes from an unexpected $6 billion increase in tax revenue this year. However, the $3 billion boost in Ed funding is a drop in the bucket compared to the $20 billion that has been cut over the last three years. From that perspective, one could argue that his budget calls for a $17 billion cut, instead of the $25 billion that would come from an “all-cuts” budget ($20 billion over the last 3 years, plus $5 billion more for 2011-2012). According to John Fensterwald - Educated Guess, education spending will be still be $4 billion less than in 2007-2008 (see why below).
Meanwhile, as the CTA celebrates its potential victory (falsely claiming that K-12 funding has been saved, when in reality it has only been saved from further slashing), numerous other state programs will see further gutting, including the elimination of the Departments of Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Programs. The governor also plans on collapsing the Healthy Families Program into Medi-Cal. Healthy Families had provided insurance for 850,000 low-income children. One consequence may be an increase in absenteeism due to untreated medical