January 2022

K-12 Education

New Workload and Funding for the California Department of Education (CDE)

2022-23 Governor's January Budget (Dollars In Thousands)

Proposal Positions Funding Recommendation and Rationale
Federal Funds      
Extend spending authority for funds from the Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations program for schools impacted by 2018 wildfires. — $200 Approve. The extension is reasonable given delays in restarting school associated with the pandemic. Proposal would allow the department to expend remaining federal grant funds by December 16, 2022. Funding is one time.
Increase funding for the Clearinghouse for Specialized Media and Technology Warehouse. — 106 Approve. Funding would cover recent rental cost increases for warehouse.
Provide two positions for federal COVID-19 relief funding reporting requirements. 2 — Approve. Helps the department meet federal reporting requirements associated with funding.
State Fundsa      
Fund information security and infrastructure for the department and the State Special Schools. 6 4,251 Approve. Helps the department improve data security.
Expand staffing for State Board of Education. 6 1,296 Approve. Aligns staffing with recent increases in workload and responsibilities related to program implementation.
Fund general purpose information technology (IT) at the department, including two new positions for telework support. 2 1,166 Modify. Provide $900,000 for operating expenses, but reject funding for new positions. The department has been redirecting salary savings from four vacant positions to cover increases in IT costs. The funding augmentation would backfill rising IT costs, while allowing the department to fill the four vacancies and support existing workload. Additional positions are not justified as new workload related to telework is likely short term in nature.
Replace two older buses used in the School Bus Driver Instructor Training Program with new electric buses ($900,000 one time). Provide ongoing funding for the department to fill two authorized but vacant positions ($201,000 ongoing) previously funded with special fund revenue. — 1,101 Approve. The one-time funding for school bus replacement aligns with similar grants the state has provided for school districts. The ongoing augmentation appears reasonable because (1) the special fund revenue previously supporting the program has decreased, and (2) the department has taken steps to increase fee revenue and reduce expenses.
Increase staffing in the Early Education and Special Education Divisions to improve transitions for children with disabilities from birth to age five. 6 849 Approve and adopt provisional budget language requiring the department to report annual progress on implementing recent work group recommendations to improve transitions for children with disabilities. Reports would help the Legislature monitor implementation of proposed recommendations.
Increase staffing in the Early Education and Fiscal and Administrative Services Divisions for the administrative work associated with recent State Preschool slot increases. 5 752 Approve. Additional slots increase administrative workload.
Provide one-time funding to identify additional assessments that can be used to evaluate charter school performance, initially required by Chapter 486 of 2019 (AB 1505, O'Donnell). — 500 Approve. Increases the number of verified data options available to evaluate charter schools.
Increase staff in the Early Education Division to develop data collecting procedures and support other workload associated with Chapter 498 of 2021 (AB 1363, Rivas). 3 458 Approve. Helps address workload associated with recent legislation.
Increase staffing in the Early Education Division to support expansion of Transitional Kindergarten authorized in 2021-22 budget package. 2.5 436 Approve. Helps address workload associated with recent legislation.
Fund Instructional Quality Commission to complete updates to the mathematics curriculum framework. — 246 Approve. Helps the commission complete pending work. Funding is one time.
Increase staffing in the Budget Management Office, which is responsible for managing the department's budget and overseeing grants and contracts. 2 238 Approve. Helps address workload increases generated by multiple divisions at the department.
Increase staffing in the Multilingual Support Division to support implementation of the Dual Language Immersion Grant Program funded in 2021-22. 1 161 Approve. Helps provide technical assistance to program grantees.
Increase staffing in the Student Achievement and Support Division to support the workload associated with Chapter 815 of 2018 (AB 2083, Cooley) for the implementation of a state level trauma resolution team. 1 161 Approve. Helps address workload associated with recent legislation.
Provide one position for technical assistance for Supporting Inclusive Practices grants. 1 161 Approve. The 2021-22 budget package provided additional federal and state funding for more grants. Proposal would support associated increased workload.
Increase managerial staff in the Fiscal and Administrative Services Division 1 157 Approve. Helps division address workload following a staff reduction due to child care programs shifting to the Department of Social Services.
Provide nine new positions for the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. 9 — Approve. Proposal is technical clean-up for funding provided pursuant to Chapter 144 of 2021 (AB 132, Committee on Budget).
Totals 47.5 $12,239  
a Funded by Non-Proposition 98 General Fund (ongoing), unless otherwise indicated.