On May 14, 2026, after months of legislative budget hearings and negotiations, Governor Newsom unveiled his proposal for the state budget. Californians Together is grateful for Governor Newsom’s dedication and focus toward sustaining our education system amid another difficult budget year and a precarious federal landscape. This May Revise proposal represents a critical opportunity to reinforce our commitment to equitable education, and to ensure that our most vulnerable students receive the support they need to thrive.
While we celebrate these foundational investments, we hope to see the administration better prioritize the unique needs of our English learners within the final California State Budget. To build a truly inclusive California, we must prioritize targeted resources for the students who need them most, especially amid unprecedented funding cuts and attacks on immigrant students and their families.
As we continue conversations with the governor and legislature, we hope to see our priorities reflected in the final budget. These priorities include investments in:
- California Newcomer Education and Well-Being (CalNEW) Program—No new funding was proposed for the CalNEW program. Additional funding is critical for districts to support their newcomer students. Increased ongoing investments are vital, especially amid Title III funding pressures, and unprecedented attacks against newcomers and their families. We are in strong support of Assemblymember Haney’s request for $30 million in one-time funding for CalNEW.
- Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) for California English Learner Roadmap implementation—With EWIG funds due to expire this June, new investments are necessary to ensure that districts can successfully implement the California English Learner Roadmap. The first iteration of EWIG reached 77,966 educators, and is an essential tool to equip local education agencies with the knowledge and resources they need to best serve English learners. We are in strong support of Assemblymember Bonta’s and Senator Ochoa Bogh’s request for a $20 million reinvestment and 4 year renewal of EWIG.
- At Risk Long-Term English Learner (ARLTEL) Definition—We are grateful for the administration’s consideration of our concerns with the original proposed changes to the ARLTEL definition, and for shifting the proposal to include students who have been labeled English learners for five years, which ensures earlier identification and intervention is possible. However, we still share the same concerns about students who have been labeled English learners for four years, and have not shown normative progress, being left out of this proposed definition and identification, despite potentially being at risk of becoming long-term English learners. We look forward to ongoing discussions with the administration and legislature as we work to ensure the correct students are identified and provided the support they need.
Highlights from the May Revision:
- Special Education—$2.4 billion increase in special education funding.
- These new funds will enable all local education agencies (LEAs) to receive special education funding at the same rate, and will increase the per student rate from $999 to $1,340.
- Additionally, the May Revision includes a one-time increase of $25 million for the Inclusive College Technical Assistance Center. The center facilitates collaboration between LEAs and institutions of higher education to expand inclusive college opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, empower those students to develop life skills, and model inclusive postsecondary education communities.
- Student Support and Professional Discretionary Block Grant—Proposes $5 billion in one-time Proposition 98 funding, compared to the $2.8 billion originally proposed in January. These funds will provide local education agencies with additional fiscal support to manage attendance and enrollment declines, including those caused by federal immigration actions, and address rising costs. As outlined in the proposal, these funds can support school districts in implementing statewide priorities, including:
- 1) professional development for teachers on the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework and the California Literacy Roadmap, with a focus on strategies to support literacy for English learners; (2) professional development for teachers on the California Mathematics Framework; (3) professional development for TK-3 teachers and elementary school site administrators on the principles and guidelines of developmentally appropriate instruction; (4) teacher recruitment and retention strategies; and (5) career pathways and dual enrollment expansion efforts consistent with the Master Plan for Career Education.
- While language in the proposal mentions these as potential uses, we hope to see stronger guidance and requirements for these funds to be invested through an equity lens that ensure more targeted investments for English learners and our highest need students.
- Community Schools—$1 billion is maintained in the May Revision to expand the community school model to more school sites that have large concentrations of students from low-income families, English learners, and youth in foster care. In addition, the proposal reappropriates $485 million previously set aside for California Community Schools Partnership Program extension grants to support other aspects of the community schools model. This includes $401 million to eligible schools for planning and implementation, $50 million for middle and high school in the context of community schools, $28 million to the State Transformational Assistance Center, and $6 million for continued implementation of Transforming Together, an initiative by the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and California Community Schools Partnership Program that aims to strengthen collaboration between county offices of education and community partners to better meet the behavioral health needs of students and families.
- Literacy and Math Instruction
- One-time increase of $428.8 million to extend funding for the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program for all grantees until June 30, 2031
- $11.2 million for the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Educator Training Competitive Grant, which provides training and support to new and existing literacy coaches
- An additional $60 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to enable the work of the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership to expand its reach to more local education agencies, and extend its impact beyond its current expiration date of June 30, 2029
- Multitudes Literacy Screener—$5 million ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund to the Sacramento County Office of Education to partner with the University of California, San Francisco Dyslexia Center to support the ongoing use of the Multitudes screener statewide at no cost to local education agencies, and expand the number of languages supported by Multitudes.
- The May Revision also includes a policy proposal that ensures young students in kindergarten through second grade receive instruction before being screened for reading difficulties. Under this proposal, kindergarteners must first receive instruction for 90 days and first and second grades after 45 days. This is consistent with research that shows screeners work most effectively, and have the most accurate results when they are administered after students have first received sufficient instruction.
- Golden State Teacher Grant Program (GSTG)—The May Revision includes an ongoing increase of $16.2 million in federal special education (IDEA) funds to support the GSTG, with grant awards for prospective special education teachers of up to $20,000. Additionally, the May Revision includes $1.6 million one-time federal Title II funds for 2026-27, with grant awards for prospective teachers in other subject matter areas of up to $10,000.
A state budget is more than just numbers, it is a statement of our values. We look forward to working together to ensure our fiscal priorities reflect a commitment to the English learners who represent the future of our state.