Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 54
CHAPTER 99
Relative to education finance.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 16, 2009.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 54, Brownley.
Education finance.
This measure would state the intent of the Legislature that the State of California generate sufficient funds for, and allocate sufficient funds to, education, so as to bring per-pupil spending up to or beyond the national average, and to a level that accounts for the actual cost of educating California’s diverse pupil population.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, School districts cannot be expected to meet performance standards unless they have sufficient funds to support academic success for all pupils; and
WHEREAS, Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution requires that money for the support of the public school system shall have first priority for allocation from all state revenues; and
WHEREAS, California’s current education funding system does not address cost differences across schools, school districts, or pupils; and
WHEREAS, California’s current system of education finance appreciably underfunds schools and school districts, especially those with the largest number of pupils with the highest needs; and
WHEREAS, Schools and school districts with relatively high concentrations of disadvantaged pupils and those that operate in a high cost environment do not receive sufficient funding to allow pupils to reach the 21st century performance expectations that the state places on them or to allow those schools and school districts to meet the state’s current goal on the Academic Performance Index or the federal government’s goals with respect to Adequate Yearly Progress; and
WHEREAS, California schools and school districts receive fewer revenues, and subsequently spend significantly less, than do schools and school districts in most other states; and
WHEREAS, California has one of the highest pupil-to-staff ratios in the country; and
WHEREAS, A comprehensive research study requested by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction found that in 2007 an increase of at least 40 percent in education funding, targeted mostly to low-income schools, would be needed to meet the current expectations placed on California schools; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 13, which unfairly restricts corporate property tax increases, has limited the ability to raise the additional revenues necessary to provide the high quality education that Californians expect and to support academic success for all of the state’s pupils; and
WHEREAS, The cost of providing an education in California, like the overall cost of living, is among the highest in the country; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That it is the intent of the Legislature that the State of California generate sufficient funds for, and allocate sufficient funds to, education, so as to bring per-pupil spending up to or beyond the national average and to a level that accounts for the actual cost of educating California’s diverse pupil population so that all pupils are prepared at the end of their elementary and secondary education experiences for college, careers, and successful participation in our democratic institutions, no matter where they live or what their economic, racial, or ethnic background is; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Governor, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to the Chairs of the Assembly Committees on Budget and on Education, the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Budget and Fiscal Review and on Education, to the Secretary for Education, and to the President of the State Board of Education.