California’s Legislature won’t reconvene until 2019, but on the first day of session, Democratic lawmakers introduced two major education bills, calling for nearly $40 billion more in state spending on schools. And Governor-elect Gavin Newsom publicly supports many of the same education initiatives being pushed by legislators
As California rings rings in a new administration, CALmatters provides a guide to some of the education items lawmakers will likely debate next year to include: universal preschool, per-pupil spending, data systems, and the realities of funding new initiatives.
Many education advocates and school officials point out that California’s per-pupil spending, when adjusted by cost of living, ranks among the bottom tier of states. Stanford researchers have found that the state needs to spend $25.6 billion more—a 38 percent increase—than it currently is for all California students to meet learning expectations.