SACRAMENTO – CFT– A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals released the following statement from President Jeff Freitas on Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revise budget proposal for the 2025-2026 fiscal year:

“Governor Newsom’s May Revise proposal protects our state’s education system from the most draconian cuts by funding our public schools and community colleges with a 2.3% Cost of Living Adjustment and fully funding our community college growth. But CFT disagrees that the uncertainty of our state’s budget outlook justifies the proposed withholding of $1.3 billion in Proposition 98 funding, which is a floor not a ceiling for funding our K-14 education system.

“Today’s proposal lowered the 8% cuts to the UC the governor first proposed in January to 3% but, unfortunately, the University of California management has already started to make cuts in line with the January proposal. While we appreciate the cuts being lowered, any cuts only serve to harm our students who come to the UC system for a world class education. We call on the UC system to immediately repair the deep cuts they’ve already made and we will continue to advocate against this new proposal that threatens to harm the system’s standing as home to our nation’s top public education institutions.

“Finally, to address our school staffing crisis, California cannot rely solely on budget cuts or shifting funds around. New revenue streams are essential to sustain and adequately fund our education system, the foundation of our state and the critical driver of our economic prosperity. As our state rises to the fourth largest economy in the world while our budget outlook suffers, it is more clear than ever that the wealthiest of Californians are not paying their fair share.”

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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.