Senate budget committe proposes restoring 248 billion to school bus funding

Gov. Jerry Brown will have a heck of a time persuading voters to raise taxes by $6.9 billion to benefit schools if he can’t get the education community excited about it first. And so far it’s proving to be a hard sell.
District officials do fear the downside if Brown’s tax proposal fails, but they don’t see a lot of upside if it passes. Many feel like they’re being used by Brown and his administration, who are characterizing a general temporary sales and income tax increase as a tax for K-12 schools and community colleges.
If parents and teachers end up reaching the same conclusion ­– and being equally unexcited – the governor’s plan could be in big trouble.
On Friday, Brown got the first pushback on the current and proposed budget, which assumes his tax increase will pass. In amending SB 81, the Senate budget committee proposes restoring $248 million in school bus funding that’s part of the midyear budget cuts. Brown is proposing to kill the whole bus program – worth about $570 million – next year.
READ MORE by John Fensterwald of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation