Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new investments in California public schools in his revised budget proposal released May 14, which includes $151.6 billion for TK-12 education.

The new funding number, an increase from the January budget estimate of $125.5 billion for education spending, results from higher state revenue growth in the first few months of the year than previously anticipated. Newsom also announced a 4.31 percent cost-of-living adjustment for the Local Control Funding Formula, up from 2.41 percent in his January proposal, and beyond the calculated statutory COLA of 2.87 percent. Additionally, the administration proposed nearly doubling the Student Support and Discretionary Block Grant from $2.8 billion in January to $5 billion in May and added a substantial increase in ongoing funding for special education.

The governor, however, still opted to underfund Proposition 98 by $3.9 billion. While that figure is lower than the $5.6 billion proposed in January, ACSA Executive Director Dr. Edgar Zazueta said the state remains responsible for paying schools what they are owed.

“There’s good stuff in the budget, but not good enough on that part,” Zazueta said during ACSA’s Legislative Lunch Break on May 14.

Legislative Advocate Kordell Hampton said ACSA has been at the forefront of efforts opposing the withholding, including member advocacy during Legislative Action Days in April and a West Sacramento news conference with education partners earlier in May. The Assembly and Senate spending plans also fully fund Prop. 98, he said.

“When it comes to this withholding proposal, we’re going to see some pushback [from] the Legislature if they maintain their budget framework,” Hampton said.

Senior Director of Governmental Relations Iván Carrillo said the 4.31 percent “super COLA” is welcome news for the education community. Newsom has also proposed requiring schools and community colleges to provide up to 14 weeks of paid leave for pregnancy and pregnancy-related disabilities beginning in 2026-27. The governor said the increased COLA would help cover implementation costs.

“It’s important to know what the COLA is and what it includes, and — if this were to get adopted — ensure this is talked about locally related to what it intends to support,” Carrillo said.

Carrillo praised the additional special education funding and the increase to the block grant, which would give local educational agencies “full discretion” to spend the money as needed.

“One area to note is the reserves,” Carrillo added. “Anytime we have an opportunity to put money in the Prop. 98 reserve and soften the blows that may happen in the future, that’s prudent budgeting.”

Read ACSA’s summary of the 2026-27 revised budget proposal here: content.acsa.org/2026-27-revised-budget-summary.