Gov.Newsom Wants Free Prekindergarten For Californians

Sonora, CA–Governor Gavin Newsome gave a speech on Wednesday that focused on the education aspect of his 100 billion dollar California Comeback Plan. This would be a historical high for state school funding in California, investing $20 billion into the system, the California Governor explained his plan by saying

“We’re doing more than just fully reopening for the upcoming school year, we’re proposing historic investments in public schools to create new opportunities for every student, especially for our neediest students, so that every child can thrive, regardless of their race or zip code, To achieve this goal, we’re going big – targeting $20 billion of investments to transform our public schools, including the creation of universal Pre-K and the establishment of college savings accounts for 3.7 million disadvantaged kids for higher education pursuits or to start their own business.”

In addition to free prekindergarten, the following was also proposed

• $3 billion for community schools and wraparound services
• $4 billion for universal mental health screening and access to treatment for young people
• $5 billion to implement universal after school programs
• $3.3 billion for teacher preparedness, grants, residency programs, and loans
• $1.1 billion to provide more counselors, teachers, and support staff to reduce student-staff ratios
• $2.6 billion for accelerated learning through tutoring to address learning loss