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Adopted State Budget Restores Charter Categorical Block Grant
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 06/29/2012 SACRAMENTO - SACRAMENTO — The Legislature approved and Governor Brown signed revised 2012-13 state budget and education “trailer” bills into law this week. The revised budget is contingent on voter approval of the Governor’s proposed ballot measure to increase state sales and income taxes and would levy a huge trigger cut if the measure fails. The revised...
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Democrats Approve Budget Legislation on Party-Line Vote: Deliberations Likely to Continue
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 06/15/2012 SACRAMENTO - Democrats in both houses of the California Legislature today approved 2012-13 state budget legislation and a few related “trailer” bills on party-line votes, including one measure that would substantially cut funding for charter schools. The Legislature’s actions arguably meet the June 15 budget adoption deadline imposed by Proposition 25—the 2010 ballot measure that both reduced the two-thirds vote requirement for budget adoption...
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2012-13 Cash Flow Deferrals Exemption Window Opens
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 06/01/2012 SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Education (CDE) this week posted an application for exemptions from some large funding deferrals for the upcoming fi scal year, with a short fuse in the form of a mid-June application deadline. Projecting cash fl ows for charter schools in the 2012-13 fi scal year is proving to be the most challenging ever. Despite the Governor’s recent...
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Trigger Threat Grows to Over $440/ADA
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/25/2012 SACRAMENTO - The Governor’s May Revise budget proposals continue general themes of his original 2012-13 budget proposal, but with deeper cuts to bridge a growing state budget gap. He continues to push a proposed ballot initiative to increase taxes. Though these tax increases would provide no additional funding for K-12 schools, the Governor continues to propose targeting the related cuts almost exclusively on education...
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Budget Subcommittees Wrestle With Governor's Charter School Reform Proposals
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 04/30/2012 Last week both of the Legislature’s budget subcommittees on education fi nance took up several charter- related fi nance reform items proposed by the Governor. Both subcommittees deferred action on most issues, but approved a few minor ones. The tenor of the debate, however, was interesting as it laid bare key legislators’ limited understanding of fundamental charter policy issues and signal that, even two...
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Fiscal Volatility Continues As Sacramento Budget Fog Thickens
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 03/09/2012 SACRAMENTO - The Legislative Analyst estimates that state revenues will fall $6.5 billion short of the Governor’s January budget proposal estimates. This huge gap, combined with a slew of more minor issues and developments, mean the charter school funding picture for the 2012-13 budget remain very unclear and difficult-to project. Meanwhile, Governor Brown has signed Senate Bill...
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New Emergency Audit Regulations Will Cut School Funding Unless School Can Prove Immunization
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 02/28/2012 SACRAMENTO - The Education Audit Appeals Panel (EAAP) recently approved new emergency audit regulations calling for charter school auditors to disallow average daily attendance (ADA) if immunization documentation does not prove that the student met recently-adopted pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination requirements. The regulations will govern audits of schools’ current-year (2011-12) compliance with the pertussis vaccination requirements and...
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Reversal of Transportation Trigger Cuts Adds Insult to Charter Funding Disparity
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 02/03/2012 SACRAMENTO - The California Legislature this week approved legislation (Senate Bill 81) to restore the cut to school districts’ Home-To-School Transportation funding program and instead cut school district and charter school general-purpose funding. This fast-track legislation is said to have Governor Brown’s support and, if signed into law, would give charter schools an additional, unexpected mid-year funding...
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Governor’s Budget Includes Potential $370/ADA Trigger Cut
Category: Finance

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Governor Releases Budget Proposal Early-Backs Many Charter "Wish List" Items
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/06/2012 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown proposes a sweeping overhaul and simplification of the K-12 education funding system, including several helpful changes to support charter schools in his 2012-13 state budget proposals. Many budget details were released yesterday, five days ahead of next Tuesday’s scheduled release, after staff inadvertently posted some ofthe budget details to a public web site....
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Governor Pulls Budget “Trigger," Spares Most K-12 Funding From Cuts
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 12/13/2011 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown announced today that he will lightly squeeze the budget cut “trigger,” resulting in minor cuts to K-12 schools’ general purpose funding. The announcement provides a bit of welcome relief in an otherwise-grim fiscal environment. The Governor noted that his forthcoming proposal for next year’s (2012-13) state budget will also include a trigger mechanism,...
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One Step Closer to Pulling Budget Trigger
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 11/18/2011 SACRAMENTO - California moved one step closer to pulling a state budget cut trigger when the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) yesterday released its annual state budget prognosis. The LAO estimated that 2011-12 state revenues will fall $3.7 billion short of levels assumed when the state budget was adopted last June. The bad news is that trigger cuts...
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Proposal to Reauthorize Key Federal Funding Laws Could Eliminate Charter Grants for California
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/13/2011 SACRAMENTO - U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) released the first comprehensive proposal for reauthorization of the massive federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, formerly known as No Child Left Behind) today. CSDC has only begun to digest its 800+ pages of proposed amendments, but our preliminary analysis indicates the proposal is a decidedly mixed bag for...
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Obama Unveils Details of Education Jobs Bill Part II
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 09/16/2011 SACRAMENTO - President Obama proposes a third major round of economic stimulus that would provide a combination of formula-based general-purpose and facilities funding that, if appropriated as proposed, would benefit most, if not all charter schools. Details of the proposal surfaced today. According to CSDC’s preliminary review of the legislation as introduced The American Jobs Act of...
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Governor Signs Hair-Trigger Budget
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 07/01/2011 Governor Brown signed a revised state budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year that is based on very optimistic state revenue. If the optimistic revenue estimates hold, charter funding will track closely to CSDC’s prior estimates and will increase slightly with respect to the prior year. If state revenues fall short, the budget legislation could trigger mid-year cuts...
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Deferral Exemption Deadline Reminder
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/25/2011 SACRAMENTO - Charter schools that want to seek an exemption from one or both sets of major deferrals need to submit their deferral exemption request to the California Department of Education by either May 31 or June 1st, depending on the specific exemptions requested. Charter schools’ deferral exemption requests must be certified by the charter-granting agency (in consultation...
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Expanded Analysis of Governor Brown's "May Revise" Budget Proposals
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/20/2011 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown proposed a $3 billion increase in K-14 education funding, scaling-back K-12 education funding deferrals, and eliminating funding for the troubled CALPADS and CALTIDES pupil and teacher data systems as part of his annual “May Revise” budget proposals. While the proposals come as welcome news, they remain contingent on Brown’s revised proposals to ask...
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Governor Brown’s “May Revise” Proposes Increased Funding, Fewer Deferrals for K-12 Schools
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 05/16/2011 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown this morning proposed a $3 billion increase in K-14 education funding, reducing some of the pending K-12 funding deferrals, and eliminating funding for the troubled CALPADS and CALTIDES pupil and teacher data systems as part of his annual “May Revise” budget proposals. The proposals come as welcome news to K-12 schools that had...
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Budget Committee Rejects Proposed Charter Facilities Aid Cut; Larger Budget Picture Fuzzy
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 03/08/2011 SACRAMENTO - The Legislature’s 2011-12 budget conference committee wrapped-up its work last week, rejecting a proposed $25 million cut to the Charter School Facilities Grant Program and, at least in appearance, keeping pace with Governor Brown’s proposal to send an early budget package forward by a self-imposed March 10 deadline. While the committee’s actions lend the appearance...
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An Expanded Look at Governor Brown's January Budget Proposal
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/17/2011 SACRAMENTO - Funding for K-12 education and charter schools would remain largely static under Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2011-12 state budget. Though the flat funding proposal generally is welcome news in the midst of a massive state budget shortfall, the flat funding proposal is contingent on enacting a laundry list of controversial reforms, cuts, and tax increases....
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Governor Brown Proposes Linking K-12 Education Funding to Voter Approval of Tax Hike Extensions
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 01/10/2011 SACRAMENTO - Governor Brown would hold K-12 education funding static and fully fund the state’s constitutional funding guarantee for education under his 2011-12 state budget proposal, but only if voters enact a ballot measure in June to extend several temporary tax increases. The Governor’s overall 2011-12 state budget proposes $12.5 billion in cuts, including a 10 percent...
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Short Fuse on October Deferral Exemption Deadline
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/13/2010 SACRAMENTO - This afternoon the California Department of Education posted information on the process for requesting an exemption from the recently-authorized October state aid apportionment deferral. As we reported earlier this week, state budget “trailer” legislation authorized a deferral of the October state apportionment into November to give the state treasury time to market a revenue anticipation...
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New State Budget Increases Charter Funding Rates - But Can Schools Bank On It?
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/11/2010 SACRAMENTO - The state Budget Act and related “trailer” bills approved by the Legislature early Friday morning will provide substantially increased general-purpose and facilities funding relative to CSDC’s prior, conservative estimates. This good news, however, is tempered by additional deferrals of state aid payments, “smoke and mirrors” assumptions underlying the budget, and sharp categorical funding cuts for...
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Partial Budget Details Emerging
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center Posted on 10/06/2010 SACRAMENTO - The broad strokes of the proposed state budget accord for 2010-11 began to emerge last night and earlier this morning and include the following: General purpose funding above Governor’s prior “May Revise” funding levels. The proposed budget compromise would not implement either the Governor’s proposed 3.8 percent across-the-board cut nor the proposed -0.38 percent cost-of-living adjustment. This...
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Federal Jobs Bill Funding Enroute
Category: Finance

by Eric Premack, Charter Schools Development Center. Posted on 09/10/2010 SACRAMENTO - Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado today committed to sign legislation authorizing allocation of $1.2 billion in new federal "Jobs Bill" funding and the final ten percent of stimulus-related State Fiscal Stabilization Funds to California schools. The new legislation will provide needed cash infusion to schools and is a rare bright spot in an otherwise grim and...
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