Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that provides for various education funding reductions and makes other changes in accordance with these reductions.

Highlights:

-Increases the revenue limit reductions for each county superintendent of schools from 7.839 to 11.183 percent deficit factor in FY2009 (Sec. 2). -Exempts school districts that maintain their facilities in good repair from the 1 percent facility reserve requirement for fiscal years 2009-2013 (Sec. 3). -Increases the revenue limit reductions for each school district from 7.844 to 11.187 percent deficit factor in FY2009 (Sec. 6). -Reappropriates $16 million dollars in excess funds allocated to the Division of Juvenile Justice for juvenile education to the State Department of Education for the purpose of funding school district revenue limit appropriations (Sec. 16). -Reduces funding for State higher education in the form of cuts to unallocated funds in the amount of $717.5 million for the University of California, $717.5 million for California State University, and $85 million for California Community Colleges (Sec. 17, 18, 19). -Permits, for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, local school districts or county offices of education to use, for any educational purpose, the entirety of remaining balances of restricted amounts, in addition to those already available via its general fund, funds remaining in their adult education fund, deferred maintenance fund, and pupil transportation equipment fund. Adds the following programs to those excluded from this policy: The English Language Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Program, child development, and child nutrition programs (Sec. 21). -Requires that basic aid school districts face reductions in categorical funding proportional to revenue limit reductions for non-basic aid school districts. Provides some limitations on reductions for non-basic school districts for FY2009 (Sec. 22). -Appropriates $8.27 million to charter schools in order to bring them proportionally in line with funding for non-charter schools (Sec. 24). -Reduces the amount appropriated to the High Priority Schools Grant Program by $107.91 million (Sec. 25). -Declares this act an urgency statute due to the financial crisis facing the state (Sec. 27).

Full Bill Text