Local teachers demand the release of $3.9 billion for public schools.

As the deadline to approve the state budget approaches, local school teachers from Monterey County, Gilroy and Hollister gathered at Frank Paul Elementary School in Salinas Thursday morning, June 11, to demand the full release of Proposition 98 money for public education for the 2026-2027 school year. 

In the January budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would withhold $5.6 billion from TK-12 and community colleges after ensuring state revenue would materialize. 

In the budget revision in May, Newson added back $1.7 billion in the allocation but kept $3.9 billion pending a reassessment earlier next year. 

Proposition 98 was passed by voters in 1988 and provides minimum funding guaranteed for school districts and community colleges. 

Oscar Ramos, a long-term elementary school teacher and president of the union Salinas Elementary Teachers' Council, said Salinas City Elementary School District would miss $5 million because of the withholding of funds. 

“That is not just the number on a spreadsheet, those are real dollars; real dollars that fund real support for real students in my second-grade classroom,” Ramos said at the press conference. 

Educators say it would impact students from TK to community colleges in different ways.

“Those funds help provide support staff who work with students in small groups as they build critical reading skills,” Ramos said. “These are the foundational years. The extra reading support students receive today can determine their academic success for years to come.” 

SCESD has a large population of English language learners and migrant students. 

“Without the continued investments from our state leaders, the transformational effects of our public school classrooms from TK to community college will diminish,” said Angela Der Ramos, Hartnell College Governing Board trustee and former fifth grade teacher.

Later that day, California legislative leaders announced they reached a budget deal for the upcoming fiscal year pending votes from the Senate and Assembly and negotiation with the governor. 

“The agreement includes approximately $5 billion in additional revenues, balances the budget through the next two fiscal years, cuts the structural deficit in half, maintains strong reserves, and makes progress on Rainy Day Fund reforms,” State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, said in a statement.

For education, an announcement by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón stated the deal included a “reliable schedule” to release the $3.9 billion for schools.

The budget also includes an expansion of community schools, 14 weeks of paid maternity leave for educators and increases the Cal Grant financial aid age limit to 30.

“There are still unresolved issues, but the Senate will continue working with the Assembly and governor to finalize a budget,” Laird said.