California’s Solution for a Looming Covid-19 Budget Disaster
Proposition 13 created a huge loophole for big property owners. Voters may close it come November, funneling $12 billion to struggling schools.
Pedestrians walk past a closed high school in Hollywood, California, on March 16.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
With 45 million children in 43 states already enjoying an extended summer vacation, school boards and legislators are trying to determine how the coronavirus recession will affect K-12 funding for the next academic year and beyond.
Since U.S. lockdowns first began, governors in eight states signed bills to free up funding for disadvantaged students in poorly funded public schools, some where students often arrive hungry or have undiagnosed learning disabilities. Now, six states are considering November ballot measures to boost school funding or change their financing mechanisms.