By California Black Media

Next year, expect big fights among state government officials and your representatives in the state legislature about how the huge windfall of cash in the state’s savings account should be spent.

California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently predicted that the state will have a $7 billion surplus by the end of this fiscal year. The following year, California’s savings account is projected to grow to more than $18 billion.

“As Washington soaks Americans with a trillion dollars in debt to pay for tax cuts that benefit the wealthy and destroys the social safety net, our state is now doing more than ever before to provide opportunity for all California families, especially those who are not equally sharing in our nation’s prosperity,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom, responding to the news.

 “We are taking important steps so that growth is broadly shared, doing it all while saving record amounts for a rainy day,” he added.

The LAO is recommending that legislators commit no more than $1 billion of the “estimated $7 billion surplus to ongoing purposes in 2020?21.”

Last fiscal year, California had a record-breaking $21.5 billion surplus of which the state spent about half on paying down the debt and bolstering reserves. It invested about $4 billion on ongoing projects and used to rest to fund one-time programs, including initiatives to solve the state’s homelessness crisis.

By state law, the governor has until January 10, 2020, to present his initial budget to the legislature.

By Lou Yeboah

“… I’m not after the blessings ¬ I’m not after things ¬ I’m after Your presence.  My hands are raised because¬ I surrender¬ After coming to grips with the reality¬ that You love me so much so¬ that You thought I was worth saving¬ You thought I was worth keeping¬ You thought I was worth dying for¬ that You sacrificed Your life¬ so that I can be free ¬ so that I can be whole ¬ so that I can tell everyone I know ¬ Love lifted me when nothing else could have¬  Lord, I tell you, all I want is You¬ You are my God and my hallelujah belongs to You, and You only. So withholding nothing – I Surrender ¬ Everything I give to You¬ I give myself away so that You can use me¬ My life doesn’t belong to me¬ My life is not my own¬ To You I belong¬ Fill me up Lord¬ until I overflow¬ I’m hungry¬ I’m thirsty¬ I’m desperate for You¬ take my heart¬ take my life¬ as a living sacrifice¬ all my dreams¬ all my plans¬ Lord I place them in Your hands¬  Here I am to worship¬ here I am to bow down¬ here I am to say that You’re my God – For You are altogether lovely¬ altogether worthy¬ altogether wonderful to me¬ and all of my days I’m gonna serve you. Wherever you want me to go Jesus, I’m gonna go¬ Whatever you tell me to say, I’m gonna say it¬ I’m gonna move when you tell me to move¬  Have Thine own way Oh Lord¬ Thou art the Potter¬ I am the clay¬ mold me and make me after Thy will¬ while I am waiting yielded and still.”

Oh, I tell you, when I think about the goodness of God, my soul cries Abba Father. Sometimes, I can feel overwhelmed when I realize how much sin and wrong I have done in my life. I think of the time when I rejected what God wanted me to do. I rebelled against His authority. But then I remembered, that “where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more” [Romans 5:20]. Only God has been able to make payment for my sin. Only God has been able to put me in a right relationship with Him. God did this through the death of His Son Jesus on the cross. So when I say My hallelujah belongs to Him ¬ My hallelujah belongs to Him! He is the reason for my being, and He deserves all my love ¬ all my adoration ¬ all my devotion ¬ all my praise ¬ all my worship ¬ all my obedience ¬ my everything. Ultimately, I owe my life to Him.

Tell me, have you every thought of God as generous towards you? Can you believe that when He looks at you with all your baggage, all your junk, all your hang-ups, He says, “I want to be generous to you. I can’t wait to pour out on you that which will make you happy – not because you deserve it, but because there’s something about Who I am that loves to overflow in extravagant ways upon you. He gives us grace – [what we don’t deserve] and extends mercy – [not giving us what we do deserve] – We are indeed blessed by God. How majestic He is – how loving patient, and kind He is. How gracious He is – How he puts up with us and blesses us in spite of ourselves.

I tell you as the Jews were so moved by what the Lord had done in them and for them that they could not contain their praise for Him, I’m too awestruck for what the Lord has done for me. I praise Him because of one reason: He is worthy! You see, God moved in grace and power to deliver my soul from the torment and bondage of my sins. He delivered me from an eternity in Hell and He adopted me into his family when He saved me out of the shame, sentence, and sorrow of my sins.

I tell you, He is worthy. He is worthy of our love. He is worthy of our devotion. He is worthy of our obedience. He is worthy of everything we can offer to Him. Therefore, I challenge you to praise the Lord and to magnify His name. When we praise Him we acknowledge that we are nothing without Him. – we give Him homage, respect, reverence for loving us when we are so undeserving of that love. David said I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. David understood clearly his shortcoming – He knew he was messed up – He knew he was wretched before a Holy God and that his righteousness was filthy – but He blessed God because he recognized that God loved Him in spite of his way.

I tell you, there is no reason in us that he should bless us. He has every reason to justly destroy us. Yet he chooses to bless us and put his name on us and claim us as his own. We ought to praise God for being God… merciful, just, righteous, holy, omnipotent, immutable. It is a prayer of nothing but praise to God. There is no supplication, no request, no petition or plea in this prayer. It is pure unadulterated praise to God. We need to give great consideration to this because He deserves it! 

If you believe that He deserves it, “…Lift your hands wherever you are, and tell the Lord Yes¬ Tell Him, you won’t be afraid¬ You’ll step out on His Word and declare His glory¬ Open up your heart and tell the Lord Yes¬ Say Yes¬ Say I’ll obey Jesus¬ I won’t stray Jesus. This time I’ve made up my mind¬ I’ll say Yes¬ My soul says Yes¬ My mind says Yes¬ My heart says Yes¬ Yes, I’ll do what you want me to do¬ I’ll say what you want me to say¬ I’ll go, if you lead me¬ Yes I will¬ I wanna do your will Jesus¬ I wanna do your will¬ My soul says, Yes!

“…Flowing from my heart are the issues of my heart is¬ Gratefulness…” All I want is You Lord!

Excepts: [You Deserve It – J. J. Hairston & Youthful Praise] … [Worth – Anthony Brown & group therAPY]…[Tasha Cobbs Leonard – You Know My Name ft. Jim Cravity]… [Tasha Cobbs – Fill Me Up Until I Overflow]…  [I Give Myself Away/Here I Am to Worship – William McDowell]…  [Withholding Nothing Medley] [Yes – Shekinah Glory Ministry][Truth in You – Anthony Brown & group therAPY][Grateful (Reprise) – Hezekiah Walker & LFC]

 RIALTO, CA – Under the authority of the Board President, President Channing Hawkins initiated a special meeting to review and scrutinize professional services contracts. The direction by the Board President is the next step of strengthening transparency and accountability at West Valley Water District. 

President Channing Hawkins stated, “As President, I will continue moving forward in ensuring our community and ratepayers are given the opportunity they deserve to review, scrutinize, and provide input on how their funds are spent.” He added, “This is an additional step I have directed towards achieving the Transparency Certificate of Excellence.” 

The special meeting held by the Board was live streamed for the public view. It provided the public and ratepayers an opportunity to review contracts approved by the Board or within the $25,000 authority allowed by the General Manager per district policies. Fifteen contracts were reviewed or considered by the Board, which included professional services for software integration, engineering, and employee recruitment among others. 

Vice President Kyle Crowther stated, “Together, our Board of Directors are moving to develop new policies and procedures to ensure the ratepayers funds are spent wisely. We will hold consultants accountable for their agreements with the District.” 

During the meeting, the Board of Directors sought additional information and clarification for scope of services, length of agreements, and a timeline of deliverables. The public scrutiny by the Board is historic as continued action is taken towards gaining the public trust. 

On December 19, 2019, the Board of Directors took action to immediately develop a plan towards earning the distinguished Transparency Certificate of Excellence. The certificate is recognized by the Special District Leadership Foundation (SDLF). These steps include: 

? applying for a Transparency Certificate of Excellence Award. The certificate covers all general, website and outreach best practices and requirements regarding transparency for special districts. The certificate is administered by the SDLF, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides recognition and certifications to special districts and officials to enhance services to the public. 

? live-streaming the meeting for customers and community stakeholders. New meetings and workshops will now be live-streamed for the public on the WVWD website and Facebook page. 

? producing digital copies of Board of Directors meetings for the public in compliance with the California Public Records Act. 

? publishing a master calendar for scheduled meetings of the Board of Directors and Committees. 

? reviewing our human resources policies. The agency will be conducting a hiring freeze while we are taking action to ensure our policies are fair, transparent, and consistent. 

? review and scrutinize third party consultant/professional services contracts in special public meeting. 

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- A weekend of celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. life and legacy started on Saturday, January 18, 2020 for the participants of the Social Lites, Inc. Beautillion program learning from Mr. Derek Williams, Chief of Police for the City of Ontario and ending on Monday, January 20, 2020 performing community service at the 40th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prayer breakfast held at California State University, San Bernardino Coussoulis Arena.  Dr. Anthony Blacksher professor at San Bernardino Valley College, former Beautillion Sir Knight  who took time to mentor young men in the program along with Mr. Rikke Van Johnson, former Knight and Councilmember for the City of San Bernardino along with Mr. Hardy Brown II, San Bernardino County Board of Education Trustee.  It takes a village to help youth become the best of the best.  “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’

The Beautillion Knights and their court (Fairmaidens, Squires, and Pages) are participants in a mentorship program sponsored by The Social Lites, Inc. of San Bernardino. The five-month extracurricular program centered around academic and community service projects, is focused on leadership, character, life development skills and health education for students of color from elementary to high school.  

The 2019/2020 Beautillion Scholarship Program is in its 53^rd year.  The program will commence on Saturday, March 28, 2020 at the National Orange Show of San Bernardino.

For more information regarding the Beautillion Scholarship Program, please telephone chairperson, Mrs. Tina Darling at tribicu2@msn.com or Ms. Lisa Blacksher, President at lisasocialities@gmail.com or Mrs. Bettye Brewster, Business Manager, bettyebrewster@yahoo.com.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Redlands High School extended its record for San Bernardino County Mock Trial championships to 16 on Saturday, January 18 as it defeated Rancho Cucamonga in the 38th annual competition.

The victory marked Redlands’ fifth title in the past seven years as it advances to the state competition in March in Los Angeles.

For Rancho Cucamonga of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, it was the team’s first time reaching the finals in the competition.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Michael Sachs congratulated both teams for their knowledge and determination during the two rounds of the finals held at the Foothill Law and Justice Center. County Superintendent Ted Alejandre also congratulated both teams for their spirited competition.

Approximately 450 students representing 32 high school teams have participated in the Mock Trial competition this year. This year’s case was the People v. Matsumoto, a murder case. The county Mock Trials competition is co-sponsored by the San Bernardino County 

Superintendent of Schools and the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office.

Under the direction of coach Donna St. George, team members for Redlands include: Julia Baroi, Santino Calvanico, Vidushi Dwivedi, Hailey Farrokhi, Isabella Farrokhi, Lauren Garcia, Ashlynn Lenertz, Alison Marshall, Emma Moralez, Luca Moralez, Anagha Nambisan, Ria Perencksik, Jude Rafter, Matthew Risley, Shaida Shahmohammady, Jackson Shamp and Neha Vijay. For Rancho Cucamonga and coach Arik Boles, team members are: Sebastian Bendezu, Anelly Brown, Brendan Carbone, Brian Donaldson, Riley Espaerza, Alexis Gamboa, Dylan Gono, Zane Gonzalez, Laila Khalilieh, Soffee Khalilieh, Uesli Kuli, Eisen Loc, Jett Otska, Karam Oumran, Lauren Roushin, Devon White and Ophelia White.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Experience a NEW renaissance inspired by Harlem’s late nights and hot jazz, at The Cotton Club 2020, Saturday, February 15. Come dressed in your 1920’s inspired attire and take a step into an unforgettable era of art, culture and music in the prestigious Renaissance Room at the National Orange Show, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Garrett Management Group (GMG), LLC is pulling out all the stops Valentine’s Day weekend, where guests will enjoy a divine 3-course dinner, dancing and dynamite jazz performances by j.dee and the Big Time Band, songstress Helena V. and Harlem Night Dancers. Guaranteed to be the hippest event of 2020!

Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased at www.gmgevents.net, and for additional information by calling 1-866-514-3391. VIP Access is available for $100 where guests can expect to enjoy a 3-course pre-fixe dinner in the best seats in the house. VIP Access includes reserved seating, waiter service and a complimentary bottle of champagne at each table. A limited supply of VIP tickets is available, and guests are encouraged to purchase their tickets early. General Admission tickets are $75. General Admission tickets are available for a discounted rate of $70.00 when purchased as a group of 6 or more.

The Cotton Club 2020 celebrates a great turning point in history where blacks began to control their social culture, music and artistry– what is recognized as the Harlem Renaissance. GMG is not just creating the music from this era, but they are creating the space and platform to make it happen. The infamous jazz clubs of the 1920’s were usually run by white gangsters selling bootleg liquor during Prohibition. Black people were not typically stakeholders in the clubs where they performed. However, this Cotton Club is from the black perspective, OUR point of view—reclaiming what makes us great. The event also allows a younger generation to experience the rich history of the Harlem Renaissance. GMG understands this event is different than anything else they have produced. “We’re recreating a historic moment in time, says Managing Partner, Alton Garrett. “From the fashion and costumes of the evening, it is the personal participation that will drive the excitement and energy around this event. Better believe people are going to show up and show out!”

The 40th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, hosted by the Inland Empire African American Churches (IECAAC), theme  this year is “ Inland Empire 40^th Year Celebration & Liberation!” “The Best of the Best”!” We are inviting  the entire community to come celebrate 40 years of this event occasion,  from its inception in 1980, by  seven forward thinking individuals whose brilliant idea, has now become an Inland Empire legacy.  Amina Carter, Ratibu Jacocks*, Valerie Pope Ludlam*, Vivian Nash*, Sharon Cooper*, Robert Rochelle*, and Maria Brashear* and their families will be saluted at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast, traditionally held the third Monday, in the month of January, this year on the 20^th of 2020 at the California State University, Coussoulis Arena, San Bernardino, CA 92407 at 7:30 a.m.

A promenade entrance lead by our only remaining founder Amina Carter and family members of  founding members who are now with our ancestors will open our ceremony activities. This year’s breakfast is a tribute to  some unforgettable people, with a historical slide show of our infamous Martin Luther King Jr. Statue, and immediately following  the breakfast our wreath commemoration at the San Bernardino City Hall statue! 

This year will also mark the 20^th Anniversary of the Inland Empire African American Churches, who now continue to host the breakfast. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast is always an engaging atmosphere of unity in which elected officials, corporate businesses, professionals, faith-based entities and churches, community organizations and residents honor a legacy whose principles transformed the world.

In the last 40 years this event has grown tremendously and exceeded capacity at the arena of over 750 persons.  It is a community affair that is valued and treasured by numerous persons who calendar  the event, participate  and bring their families for a generational experience which they share every year.

This year’s keynote speaker is the renowned Dr. Dwight Radcliff, M.Div PH.D , Founding Pastor of the Message in Gardena CA.  A graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, A contributing author for Urban Ministries, an international speaker and he is considered to be an insightful powerful preacher.

We especially would like to invite you to support our annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast. We welcome your attendance and hope that you will continue this annual celebration or begin a new tradition for your family. Music, entertainment food for your mind and soul, all a part of the morning’s festivities.                                                                                           

Sponsorship over the years has been invaluable, each year corporate & community entities are selected and requested to provide assistance. If you desire to be a vendor or place an ad in the souvenir booklet deadlines are approaching fast .   

To confirm your commitment, please contact Beverly Jones Wright, Chairperson at (909) 434-6583 or (909) 474-7036

By Lou Yeboah

Talk about starting the New Year off right…..Go back and remember. Go back to the moment when you first met Jesus. Remember the love you felt, the stirring in your heart, the adoration you had for Him? Remember how grateful you were for the forgiveness of sins? Remember, at that time when nothing else mattered only Him? Well, today, God wants you to go back and remember that moment in time. And having that in your memory, He wants you to come back to Him; come back to your First Love, to the place and time in your life to where He was your everything.

For He says, “After all the things that you’ve been through, you should understand Him like He understand you. To love and be loved in return, it’s the only thing that His heart desires. What more can I do? I gave My heart, soul and Spirit to you didn’t I… didn’t I do it. I gave you the love you never knew. I thought that your heart was true. Silly of Me to think that I could ever have you for myself; silly of Me to think that you could ever know the things I do are all done for you.” It’s obvious you don’t love Me as you did at first, look how far you have fallen. You have abandoned the love you had at first – the love that caused you to drop everything to follow Me into the desert. This is the love that captures My heart. So remember, then repent and turn back to Me…[Revelation 2:4-5].

You know, David told himself to never forget the good things God had done. We also must make up our minds to never forget God’s goodness in our lives. Because as [Psalms 107] says, when we forget, it “tests God’s patience, frustrates Him, and makes His anger rise.” I don’t know about you, but that got my attention!  I am convinced that forgetting God’s goodness is a sin. So like David who found he had drifted away from God we too must repent and fervently pray, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit [Psalms 51:12].

Because of all the things we need in the coming days, none is more precious and more essential than the leadership of God upon our lives. So with that in mind, let us as Moses said, recommit ourselves to obedience to the Word of God. Let us refocus ourselves in our relationship with the Spirit of God. And, let us rededicate ourselves to living in the fullness of the Spirit of God. For the greatest investment we can make in this life is a wholehearted pursuit of a deep personal relationship with God. And understanding that it is not enough to just seek God, but to seek Him “First.” Let us not forget God’s goodness!

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. [Matthew 22: 37-40].

ByDianne Anderson

Social justice activist Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is coming to town to talk about the dark side of the American dream – the poverty crisis that has barely budged since the last time the rich-poor gap was this wide in America.

Over 50 years ago, Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign in conjunction with SCLC hoped to galvanize the 35 percent of the nation mired in destitution. Just four months from first announcing the plans, Dr. King was assassinated.

Today, Rev. Barber is reawakening that campaign to give voice at this critical point in history, and continuing Dr. King’s quest for economic justice.

On January 18, Pastor Emory James is excited to welcome Dr. Barber as the featured guest speaker at a free Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration sponsored by Ephesians New Testament Church and the city of Fontana to be held at 3:00 p.m. at Westside Baptist Church, located at 15006 Randall Ave. Seating is limited, call (909) 823-2319 for tickets.

“He is a very brilliant man. He’s addressing the systemic elements of people’s living in poverty, and poverty concerns that he has with this country,” said Senior Pastor Emory James of Ephesians New Testament Church of Fontana.

Over the past three decades, James said Ephesians Church has led the charge to bring inspiring speakers to the community. He said it’s urgent the community understand the deeper meaning behind current issues, and to promote Dr. King’s legacy.

James has featured Dr. Cornel West. They also hosted Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., one of the top preachers in the nation.

They’ve held jazz events, as well as the distinguished gospel quartet, Mighty Clouds of Joy. Several years ago, they hosted the Emmy award-winning playwright Jeff Stetson of the plays, Blood on the Leaves and The Meeting, a fictional play about a meeting between Dr. King and Malcolm X.

James said that Barber’s message ties in tightly with the life and goals of Dr. King, and addresses the ramifications of systemic poverty not only in California, but nationwide. Rev. Barber is the president of the NAACP North Carolina state chapter, and originator of the Forward Together Moral Mondays Movement.

“He’s become part of the leg moving with people to march on Washington. He’s coming here to speak about poverty, the homeless and veterans,” James said.

Last year, James held a conference on homelessness to help bring the local problem to the forefront. Various agencies spoke about what they are doing in the Inland Empire, especially in the Fontana area, to tackle homelessness.

“A lot of people like to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to poor people and the homeless, with children outdoors and hungry,” he said.

But for churches, he believes the situation has been a burden because the demand has increased dramatically over the years.

“We seem to be the ears and voices for people that can’t speak for themselves, and do things that call attention to the needs of the community,” he said.

This time of year, everyone is thinking of Dr. King, and how far society has come from his initial fight for the people.

Nationally, the Census Bureau reports there were 38.1 million people in poverty in 2018. Of those, The poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites was 8.1% in 2018, down from 8.5% in 2017. The poverty rate for Blacks was 20.8%, while the poverty rate for Asians was 10.1%. The poverty rate for Hispanics was 17.6%.

Locally, James said one area of increased poverty he sees is that families had bought homes, but some lost their jobs, and renting costs today are more than an actual house payment.

He has seen entire families displaced.

“It’s not just one or two people,” he said. “Kids live and sleep in their cars with their parents. It’s sad,” he said.

Fontana is not as hard hit by poverty as some other cities in San Bernardino County, but James said African Americans are disproportionately represented.

“My whole goal is as a bishop and pastor in the community is to call attention to that. I can’t solve the problem, but I can keep you from sticking your head in the sand, and saying that it ain’t my problem,” he said.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr | California Black Media

On January 10, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his record $222 Billion state budget for 2020-21. The $84 billion he allocated in it for K-12 schools and community colleges represents a historic high level of funding for education in California.

The proposed investment in K-14 education is 3.03 percent or $3.8 billion more than last year. Total K-12 expenditures from all sources in the budget are projected to be $17,964 per pupil.

While state spending on education is at its highest level numerically, Governor Newsom expressed that “none of us is spiking the ball” because education outcomes for many students are not where it should be or can be.

According to Newsom, “We are making progress, but it is stubborn and slow. We have disparities that are being closed and disparities that are persistent.”

The achievement gap is being closed for Latinx students, students with disabilities, low income students, and African-American students in some metrics. Latinx students narrowed their gap in English language arts scores and high school graduation rates. Students with disabilities made the greatest gains in math and English language arts. African-American students showed the largest graduation rate gain among student groups.

Where progress has been slow has been with students with disabilities, youth in foster care, homeless youth, and African-American students continuing to score below the state standard on English language arts and math tests.

Newsom was very candid in pointing out that 23 low-performing, high-poverty school districts have an over-representation of African-American students.

 “It seems self evident that we should focus and concentrate our efforts in those areas in order to address ….the substance of the vexing issue as it relates to academic achievement for African-American students.”  

 “We have to start getting serious and do something about it. We believe the biggest achievement boost is fully prepared teachers,” Newsom said.

The governor is proposing $900.1 million to be invested in workforce investment grants, professional development grants for existing teachers, and teacher recruitment strategies.

“The plan is to build a diverse teaching workforce of stable, prepared professional teachers, including more teachers that look like their students. That’s incredibly important as related particularly to African-American achievement,” Newsom said.

The budget includes $100 million to fund $20,000 stipends for new teachers who choose to teach in high-need schools. This addresses the stubborn fact that high-poverty schools have three times as many unprepared teachers.

$300 million in grants is being made available to close the academic achievement in the lowest-performing districts.

Another $300 million is proposed to expand community schools to address students’ physical and mental health needs by establishing public-private partnerships with community services.  The funds will also be used to promote parent engagement.

“Special Education in the state of California is in a crisis,” according to Newsom. About $900 million dollars is being allocated to increase base funding for Special Ed students, support specific teacher training, fund early diagnosing and intervention and pay for studies on how districts are delivering services to respond to the learning needs of those students.

The budget calls for establishing a new Department of Early Childhood Development to consolidate under one roof the various efforts to implement the governor’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, a policy initiative he announced last year.

Newsom is committed to adding 10,000 full-time preschool slots this year and providing universal preschool for all low-income 4-year-olds by the end of next year.

Education leaders’ reactions to the governor’s 2020-21 state budget presentation has been mixed.

“The Governor mentioned that students should have teachers that look more like them, and we couldn’t agree more. We look forward to having the opportunity to invest in our teacher workforce and the pipeline of future teachers coming into the profession, specifically teachers of color and in the fields of science, math, and special education,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said.

State Board of Education President Linda Darling Hammond said, “Some students spend the year in classrooms staffed by highly trained, highly prepared teachers. But many others do not. These disparities are particularly grievous for low-income students of color. The 2020-21 budget investments in educator recruitment and professional development will help place California on solid footing moving forward as we work to build, train and support the kind of high-quality educator workforce all our students need and deserve.”

California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd expresses some cynicism.

“Despite California’s economy consistently expanding – now being ranked fifth-largest in the entire world – we have some of the most underfunded schools in the country,” he said. “We rank 39th in the nation in per-pupil funding. We boast the most overcrowded classrooms in the entire country.”

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said, “California’s public schools will remain woefully underfunded, especially when compared with the rest of the nation.”

“This budget proposal does not go far enough in funding supports for our most vulnerable students,” Beutner added. “Including students whose families are experiencing homelessness and students with special needs.”

The governor’s presentation begins the formal state budget process. Over the next several months, the California legislature will hold hearings on the budget and special interest groups and the public will have an opportunity to comment on various budget proposals. In mid-May the Governor will release a revised budget plan reflecting changes to spending. The budget will be finalized by the end of  June 2020.