By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–Leaders of eight large California urban school districts advocated to Governor Gavin Newsom, urging sustained and strategic investments for public schools in the 2026-27 state budget.
The letter, dated December 17, from Fresno Unified, Los Angeles Unified, Long Beach Unified, Oakland Unified, Santa Ana Unified, San Bernardino City Unified, San Diego Unified, and San Francisco Unified asks the state to take many actions, including providing an adequate cost-of-living-adjustment, modernizing the Local Control Funding Formula to meet current economic realities, provide flexible funding to support local priorities, and delivering more funding for special education programs.
Representing districts that serve more than 15 percent of the state’s students, these urban district leaders offered the following recommendations for the development of the 2026–27 state budget:
Fully Fund the Proposition 98 Guarantee: Ensure all of the state’s 2026-27 protected education funding is used to support students and public schools as intended.
Use One-Time Funds to Eliminate Deferrals and Increase Local Flexibility: Eliminate prior-year payment deferrals and fully fund the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant. Any remaining funds should be provided to districts with maximum flexibility through a higher-than-required cost-of-living or a discretionary block grant to sustain effective local programs and close achievement gaps.
Strengthen and Increase Investments in the Local Control Funding Formula: Fund the annual Cost of Living Adjustment above the statutory minimum to help districts manage rising costs for health care, pensions, insurance, and labor agreements—especially as declining enrollment diminishes the impact of the cost-of-living adjustment; and modernize Local Control Funding Formula because current low-income thresholds no longer capture the needs of many California families.
Provide Relief for Immigration-Related Impacts: Urge the State to mitigate the fiscal effects and disruptions that federal immigration enforcement is having on schools.
Invest in Special Education and Behavioral Supports: Increase funding support for students with moderate and severe disabilities, and invest in early learning behavioral supports.
“I join my fellow urban school district superintendents in urging Governor Newsom to provide the sustained funding we need to serve our students both academically and with their social-emotional needs, as we continue to close opportunity gaps and prepare the next generation of leaders,” said Fresno Unified Superintendent Misty Her.
“Looming uncertainty around federal education funding requires the state to provide California public schools with fiscal certainty. State investments are essential for us to be able to continue our momentum of improving student outcomes and closing persistent opportunity gaps,” said Superintendent Fabi Bagula, Ph.D., San Diego Unified School District.
