May 15, 2012—The “May Revise” budget proposal Governor Brown laid out on Monday funds K-14 public education at its guaranteed minimum and public safety, but imposes new cuts on other parts of the budget.  If the Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act fails to pass in November, enormous new reductions will be piled on top of the ones delineated in the May Revise, including massive cuts of over $5 billion to education.

The CFT has posted a “Research Brief” with our preliminary analysis on the CFT website.  The CFT will continue to assess the proposed budget, including determining a course of action. We will share our analysis as we move forward.  Meanwhile, here is a brief overview of Governor Brown’s proposal.

April 24, 2012—CFT members transformed themselves into lobbyists for a day, fanning out around the Capitol to speak with legislators about school funding and education legislation, after a morning briefing led by CFT legislative staff. Members and leaders came from southern California, the central valley, and the Bay Area to ask their elected officials to do the right thing for public education.  Fred Glass photo

April 16, 2012—Standing out like a bright thread through the tapestry of the 70th annual CFT convention, held April 13-15 in San Jose, was discussion of the late lamented Millionaires Tax and its transition to a progressive tax ballot measure with the united support of CFT and its community coalition partners, Governor Jerry Brown, and the largest unions in California.