School Finance Conference

As Governor Gavin Newsom prepares to negotiate the final State Budget of his tenure in office with his colleagues in the Legislature, educational leaders will need to know and understand the critical fiscal and policy changes that affect their local budgets and operations, including if the final negotiated budget entails a new mandate to provide school employees with up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave (PPDL) funded by an additional 1.44% investment in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).

The Governor’s PPDL proposal is the first-of-its-kind policy mandate to be funded by the LCFF cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This funding mechanism is drawing sharp criticism from an educational community that has been frustrated by an under-appropriation of the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee and has fought to protect the spirit with which California voters approved prioritizing public education nearly 40 years ago. Recent budget proposals and fiscal policies erode the ability of local educational leaders to be the public stewards their students, staff, and communities expect. The question is how will the Legislature respond to the Governor’s proposals and the reactions from the educational community?

With $16.5 billion in more-than-expected state revenues, one questions the Governor’s proposal to withhold $3.9 billion in Proposition 98 funding rather than adopting the Legislative Analyst’s Office recommendation to “set it aside” or the legislative proposal to fully appropriate the minimum guarantee while accounting for its state budget impact over time as the Governor once championed in 2024.

While these larger fiscal issues need to be resolved as part of the final negotiated budget, there are other significant education decisions to be made that will impact local operations in 2026-27 and beyond, including whether it will include: 

• The Governor’s proposed $5.0 billion TK-12 discretionary block grant as is or if the final appropriation will come with some spending restrictions or a different local allocation method

• An historic increase in special education funding to help defray local General Fund contributions

• Fully funding the statutory 2.87% COLA with an additional LCFF investment with or without the mandate that it be used to fund paid pregnancy disability leave

• The Legislature’s proposal to shift state preschool under Proposition 98

• Education governance reform and shifting the administration of the California Department of Education under the executive branch

The 2026 School Finance Conference will be the next major fiscal checkpoint for your local agency that will help you determine whether or not to revise your adopted budgets through the 45-day revision window. Through this live webinar, we will provide you timely and accurate budget and program information that you can operationalize locally—including school funding forecasts that are critical factors for multiyear projections and budget-year decisions. We consistently offer our best advice, especially during an uncertain and rapidly changing environment. With this in mind, we will continue to follow the State Budget deliberations during and after the webinar, keeping you informed through our Fiscal Report.

In the meantime, please be sure to hold this date for our
School Finance Conference webinar:
Thursday, July 16, 2026
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Attendees will be able to submit questions during the webinar to be answered during the event. For those unable to make the live event, the webinar will be recorded so that you can view the content at a convenient time for you.

Cost and Registration

If you registered for the 2026 May Revision Workshop, you are already registered for the School Finance Conference—you receive two events for the price of one! If you did not, please register today to ensure your spot at this important event. 

Cancellation Policy