ACTION ON 2008 AND 2009 BUDGET ACTS

On Friday, February 20, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a package of bills designed to revise the 2008-2009 enacted budget and put into place a 2009-2010 budget. As you are aware, the state’s economic situation has deteriorated precipitously since the enactment of the 2008-2009 budget last September. The approval of a budget that reduces spending and increases revenues was necessary to make it possible for the state to stem a cash and credit crisis at the state level.

I understand that school districts are facing unprecedented fiscal challenges and share your disappointment that funding to education has been so dramatically reduced. Now that we have an enacted state budget, I want to ensure you have accurate information on which to base your local budget decisions. This letter summarizes major provisions of the 2008 and 2009 Budget Acts and related bills. The last section of the letter provides a list of the bills containing provisions related to kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) education. A table of categorical programs affected by the various flexibility provisions contained in the budget package is included in Attachment 1. The California Department of Education (CDE) will provide additional updates as more detailed analyses of the statutes become available.
 

Download the entire letter and list of programs and how they will be affected by the new budget.