The coronavirus pandemic has pushed California and the nation into uncharted waters, especially with the impact on our schools. With the economy in decline and unemployment on the rise, school funding is likely to dip, triggering cuts across the system. This financial impact will come when our schools need more money, not less, to serve our state’s children. As we look toward recovery, Californians should make the kind of significant investments in our public schools that reflect their true importance to our students, families and future.
The closing of California’s physical learning spaces has significant implications for educational equity and access. In the coming weeks and months, PACE’s efforts will be focused on supporting real-time crisis response and helping the state build toward recovery. This commentary, the first in a new series designed to raise up evidence quickly to inform crisis response and recovery, details our approach.
In the decades following World War II, community colleges expanded rapidly. They were charged with the unique mission of providing higher education opportunity to broad sections of the population that were unable to access four-year institutions. To accommodate GIs returning from World War II and baby boomers coming of age, policymakers committed resources to expand and fund community colleges. However, beginning in the 1970s, fiscal austerity constrained state budgets. Moreover, funding for community colleges competed with criminal justice and other policy priorities. When compared to earlier decades, community colleges’ funding shares declined significantly, despite recognition that community colleges continue to play a prominent role in access to higher education.
Concerns about budget cuts seem to be triggering unconventional measures to access or secure education funds. For public school districts, every student enrolled in a charter means a loss of funding, and the possible defections of teachers and administrators. Maybe this is the time to engage in a comprehensive discussion about school finance reform.
Consequences for First-Generation College Students
Commentary author
William Perez
Published
Summary
Continuing two decades of declining state support for higher education, Brown has proposed cutting $500 million each from the University of California and California State University systems, and $400 million from community colleges. These cuts are expected to lead to increased fees and reduced enrollment.
As the leader of a state most impacted by immigration policies, the next governor of California must play an active role advocating for comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act.
For nearly 30 years PACE has worked to sponsor a productive conversation about the education policy choices facing California, by bringing academic research to bear on the key policy questions and challenges facing our state. We have done this in traditional ways, by publishing policy briefs and convening seminars and conferences in Sacramento and throughout California. For years PACE’s signature publication was Conditions of Education in California, which provided an annual compendium of data and analysis on the current state of California’s education system.
Undocumented Students and the California DREAM Act
Commentary author
William Perez
Published
Summary
Often missing in the public discourse about immigration is the 1982 landmark Supreme Court case of Plyer v. Doe. Relying on the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, the Court ruled that undocumented children could not be denied a public education due to their immigration status. Presently, the Plyler decision protects the educational rights of approximately 1.5 million children under 18 years of age. The educational rights of approximately 65,000 undocumented students expire every year when they graduate from the nation's high schools.