Lawsuit Filed to Enforce Proposition 98 Guarantee
The California Teachers Association (CTA) announced August 9, 2005, that it is suing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Director of Finance Tom Campbell to enforce state law related to the Proposition 98 (Prop 98) minimum school funding guarantee.At issue is the 2004-05 State Budget deal to suspend Proposition 98�but to limit any cut to $2.0 billion, as codified in SB 1101 (Chapter 213/2004). With state tax revenues coming in much higher than expected in 2004-05, the Prop 98 minimum funding level grew, resulting in Prop 98 funding being $3.8 billion lower than the guarantee. Thus, the lawsuit contends that the state must appropriate another $1.8 billion for K 14 education in 2004-05.
In addition, the lawsuit asserts that the Prop 98 guarantee for 2005-06 was calculated using the “unlawfully low” funding provided in 2004-05–which affected the base and lowered the 2005-06 guarantee by another $1.3 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Arnold Bray on August 30th, 2005
Legislative Analyst Weighs in on Proposition 76: “Live Within Our Means”
Last week the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) issued its analysis of Proposition 76, the “Live Within Our Means” (LWOM) measure. The analysis will be included in the sample ballot for the November 8th special election. With respect to education funding, the LAO concludes that the net impact of the proposition “would be to lower the minimum guarantee for K14 education.” (Emphasis included in the LAO’s write-up.) The Office’s nonpartisan analysis is important since many voters and opinion makers will rely on this review to shape their understanding of this complicated measure.
A process for ensuring balanced state budgets was one of the Governor’s January 2005 proposals unveiled when he delivered his State of the State speech and outlined his 2005-06 budget proposals. In this speech, the Governor declared the upcoming year the “year of reform” and indicated his intent to pursue budget cutting provisions and Proposition 98 changes to eliminate budget shortfalls. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Arnold Bray on August 15th, 2005
Details of Final Budget Package Finally Emerge
In a somewhat protracted endgame to the State Budget process, the final pieces of the education budget finally became clear five days after the State Budget was sent to the Governor.
The big question in the process was the fate of the proposed $469 million STRS hit, or “teacher tax,” a proposal debuted by the Governor in January and renewed in his May Revision. That proposal has been taken off the table, meaning community colleges and K-12 school districts are not on the hook for an additional 2% in contributions to STRS (the employer rate stays at 8.25%). It was unclear for a time who was going to pick up the cost of the $469 million proposed STRS shift–it is now clear that K-14 schools have lost out on $247 million in mandated cost claim reimbursements proposed by the legislative Democrats from prior year Proposition 98 settle-up funds, but the state will bear the remainder of the burden. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Arnold Bray on August 15th, 2005
ACCCA Reports - August
Each year, ACCCA surveys its members to determine how well we are meeting our member’s needs and how we might improve. The survey also provides information about who our members are, including their interests and goals. This information allows ACCCA to design training opportunities and services over the next year that are guaranteed to meet the needs of today�s community college leaders.
More than 300 administrators took part in this year�s survey, a record-breaking 36 percent response rate. Thanks to all of you who responded! The information in the survey will be used to make your association better than ever! Read on to find out what the survey revealed, and how ACCCA is already responding to your needs.
Click here to read the full report.
posted by John Marcotte on August 15th, 2005
New Under the Dome Articles!
- Details of Final Budget Package Finally Emerge
- Significant Vetoes by the Governor
- Governor Signs Education Trailer Bill — Senate Bill 63
- The Facts on the 2005-06 Education Budget
- Loss of Accreditation at Compton College Appealed
- Ask Arnold (the tall one)
- *What’s the Status of the STRS 2% Issue?
Click here to read the whole story.
posted by Susan Bray on August 2nd, 2005
