SACRAMENTO  — CFT President Jeff Freitas released the following statement on Governor Newsom’s January budget proposal today:

“We applaud Governor Newsom for making a record $102 billion investment in K-14 public education in his budget proposal today. Governor Newsom is leading with his values, continuing to deliver on his bold commitment to fully fund our public schools and to ensure every student in California receives the resources and support they need to succeed.

“We are grateful to Governor Newsom for including $200 million in ongoing funding for healthcare coverage for part-time community college faculty. Governor Newsom understands that the best way to ensure a quality education for our nearly two million community college students is to invest in the health of part-time faculty. We look forward to working with the governor and the legislature to ensure all part-time faculty have access to quality, affordable healthcare coverage.

“We applaud Governor Newsom’s $2.7 billion commitment to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including $1.4 billion in immediate funding. We urge the state of California to move without delay to use some of these resources to continue to get rapid tests and high quality masks into our schools as soon as possible. 

“COVID supplemental sick leave is a vital public health tool, necessary for controlling the spread of the virus in workplaces, particularly in our schools. Governor Newsom stated the need for reinstating COVID-specific sick leave for workers in his January budget proposal and we remain committed to working with the governor and the legislature to deliver on this urgent need. 

“Finally, the governor continues his commitment to address our education staffing crisis, proposing additional resources in his budget to tackle this critical issue.  We look forward to working with him to find solutions to ensure that we have proper and adequate staffing levels to provide the clean, safe, and successful learning environment the students of California deserve.”

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CFT — A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals represents 120,000 teachers, faculty, and school employees in public and private schools and colleges, from early childhood through higher education. It is the statewide affiliate of the AFT, AFL-CIO.