This January, 29 new state legislators arrived in Sacramento and Governor Newsom released his 2025-26 state budget proposal. The Governor’s budget projects a very modest surplus of $363 million, a welcome relief after two years of state budget deficits.

The Proposition (Prop) 98 minimum guarantee for schools and community colleges in the Governor’s 2025-26 budget is $118.9 billion. The Governor’s budget also revises the 2024-25 Prop 98 minimum guarantee upward—from $115.3 billion to $119.2 billion – although he only appropriates $117.6 billion for 2024-25 because of revenue uncertainty. This historic level of funding for both 2024-25 and 2025-26 reflects California’s continued commitment to public education.

Also included in the Governor’s budget is a 2.43% cost-of-living-adjustment for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the Student Centered Funding Formula, and other programs like state preschool, special education, child nutrition, and the LCFF equity multiplier.

Critically, the budget proposal provides for full implementation of Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK). CSEA previously sponsored landmark legislation to establish UTK throughout California.

“I’m very proud to see that CSEA’s vision of ensuring that all 4-year-olds having access to transitional kindergarten is fully realized through this budget,” said Association President Adam Weinberger. “We’re grateful that Governor Newsom is supporting school staff by allocating $1.5 billion to reduce the student-to-adult ratio in TK classrooms from 12:1 to 10:1.”

The budget proposal additionally provides a $435 million increase to the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, for a total ongoing investment of $4.4 billion. This will ensure that local education agencies serving the most vulnerable students have the funds they need to invest in before-school, after-school, and summer enrichment opportunities.

Newsom’s budget also includes several one-time spending proposals, namely:

• $150 million in one-time funding for specialized kitchen equipment, infrastructure, and training support for scratch cooking in schools.
• $500 million to expand the existing ‘Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialist Grant Program’ to include math coaches.
• $1.8 billion for a discretionary block grant for districts to spend on statewide priorities like career pathways and dual enrollment.
• $30.4 million to support 0.5% enrollment growth at community colleges.
• $133.5 million (in addition to $29 million ongoing) to scale a common cloud data platform across the community college system.

As the Governor and the Legislature grapple with the impacts of wildfires in Los Angeles County and uncertainty on the federal level, we can expect budget revisions and new proposals throughout the year. CSEA will continue to monitor the budget process and advocate for a public education budget that invests in our members, our students, and our community.