Gavin Newsom needs the teacher’s union if he wants to be the Democrat nominee for President. So, he will give them anything they want, even as it bankrupts California—and students get Third World education.
“The Democratic governor’s previous plan would have lowered the amount of money guaranteed to schools by nearly $12 billion over two years to help close a massive state budget deficit. The new deal promises a more generous calculation of the guarantee, known as Proposition 98, in which the state would pay schools an added $5.5 billion in the future that would be difficult to afford now.
“This agreement is a smart and balanced policy solution that incorporates feedback from California’s educators,” Newsom said in a statement. “Working together, we are protecting California’s students, families, and educators and putting the state on a fiscally sound and sustainable path.”
In the British cartoon WIMPY, he always offered to pay twice in the future for a hamburger today. Newsom is the California version of WIMPY.
Gavin Newsom and teachers union resolve their budget beef
The California Teachers Association had publicly blasted Newsom over his education budget proposal.
By BLAKE JONES, Politico, 05/28/2024 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/28/gavin-newsom-teachers-union-budget-deal-00160080
SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s largest teachers union have reached a deal that would provide California schools billions more in future funding and resolve a bristling public feud over the state budget.
The agreement, first reported here, comes less than a week after the California Teachers Association released an ad needling Newsom over his education spending proposal — part of an intense campaign to publicly and privately pressure the administration and Legislature not to cut school spending.
The Democratic governor’s previous plan would have lowered the amount of money guaranteed to schools by nearly $12 billion over two years to help close a massive state budget deficit. The new deal promises a more generous calculation of the guarantee, known as Proposition 98, in which the state would pay schools an added $5.5 billion in the future that would be difficult to afford now.
“This agreement is a smart and balanced policy solution that incorporates feedback from California’s educators,” Newsom said in a statement. “Working together, we are protecting California’s students, families, and educators and putting the state on a fiscally sound and sustainable path.”
The two-party deal, confirmed by both sides, underscores the teachers union’s unmatched role in negotiating education budget and policy agreements in Sacramento, particularly with a longtime ally in Newsom. But it will not immediately head off a public advocacy campaign by the teachers that has included digital and broadcast ad buys on the budget.
The union plans to keep airing ads while it lobbies the Legislature — which would need to approve one aspect of the deal by a supermajority vote.
The agreement “ensures that students, educators and families aren’t impacted by cuts to the classroom this year while protecting future year education funding,” said union President David Goldberg.
The development marks substantial progress toward a final budget deal, unifying Newsom and the key union around a $100 billion-plus education budget that comprises around 40 percent of state spending. Legislative leaders are yet to publicly endorse any one approach to the education budget, and building consensus with them will be a key next step for the Newsom administration.
The governor’s new plan would “suspend” the Prop 98 guarantee, an action California officials took during past revenue downturns but had avoided under Newsom. Doing so allows the state to pay schools less in the near-term than it would otherwise have to, as long as it later repays those funds to schools.
That move requires a two-thirds vote by the Legislature, where Democrats hold a supermajority.
The state would still effectively take out a zero-interest loan from itself to cover previous school spending above the guarantee, a controversial idea Newsom proposed in January. But the size of that loan would shrink from $8.8 billion to $6.2 billion under the agreement.
The education lobby has only escalated its opposition to Newsom’s proposal since he first detailed it in January. The California School Boards Association has assailed the idea for months, most recently calling it a “ticking time bomb” that would shield school budgets now but fleece them later — in addition to setting a damaging precedent.
The teachers union offered one of its first public rebukes of the proposal the day Newsom stood by it in his updated May 10 budget plan, warning against “eroding” the money guaranteed to schools. The union announced its public awareness campaign a week later, throwing the full force of the education lobby behind the effort.
“I feel like we were the lead, carrying the banner,” said CSBA spokesperson Troy Flint. “But obviously, when a powerful organization like CTA joins forces, that makes your arguments so much more compelling.”
The most contentious component of the proposed loan would be axed under the deal. California would no longer ignore $6.2 billion in school spending from last year when calculating the education funding guarantee, which factors in prior-year budgets — granting schools more money in the long term.
The CSBA and other education lobbying organizations were briefed on the agreement Monday afternoon, but the group had not yet endorsed the deal as it waited for additional details, including proposed budget legislation.
“While we appreciate the Administration’s movement on this critically important issue to our 5,000 locally elected members and the 5.8 million students they serve, we must reserve comment until we see the details given we are talking about a constitutional issue that could have ramifications on our schools for years to come,” Vernon M. Billy, CEO & Executive Director of the California School Boards Association, said in a statement after the briefing.
