California’s kids are bearing the brunt of a bad state budget proposal. That’s wrong | Opinion
In June of last year, in an interview with the New York Times, Governor Gavin Newsom spoke strongly about the “California Effect.” It’s a phrase that accurately describes the state’s long-standing ability to drive national policy, and as Newsom put it, “it’s the very nature and scale of the state, larger than 21 states combined, together with its unique capacity to lead” that gives California such authority to influence the country.
Yet when it comes to supporting its kids, California is not a national leader with any authority over other states — far from it. And the severe budget cuts proposed to kids’ programs in the governor’s revised state budget proposal would exacerbate our lack of leadership.
Of course, Newsom and his administration were dealt an extremely difficult hand in navigating this year’s budget. Large cuts have to come from somewhere, which inevitably is going to leave many people upset. But the usual practice in Sacramento — in good years, give every program more; in bad years, cut every program — is no longer tenable.
Opinion
With deep cuts to foster youth, child care, education, youth suicide prevention and many other kids’ programs, the governor’s revised budget proposal released last month sacrifices the well-being of California’s children to balance the budget. In a vacuum, that’s inexcusable. It’s even more absurd when you consider where California currently stands in taking care of its kids, and the implications it has for our state and the country’s future.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, California ranks 35th among all states in child well-being (factoring in health, education and economic well-being). Over 1.2 million kids across California are currently living in poverty. An estimated 77% of 8th graders are below proficient in math and over two-thirds of 4th graders are below proficient in reading. Even Florida bested California in education and overall well-being, while Texas ranks better in education and economic well-being.
Our inputs are poor — we rank well behind our tax burden in terms of per capita spending on kids —and so are our results. Compounding the absurdity of cutting kids is that we are among the national leaders in spending on a range of other government programs. Cuts have to come from those areas – not kids.
If something similar to the governor’s proposal is adopted by the Legislature, we will fall further behind the rest of the country. The proposal takes an ax to programs that support California’s most vulnerable kids. After already threatening the safety of California’s foster youth by proposing the elimination of the Family Urgent Response System, a 24/7 helpline that provides in-person support for foster kids and families, the May proposal cuts funding to programs that provide child care and housing-related support for foster families. It indefinitely pauses a previously-approved expansion of child care and also cuts nearly half of funding to home visiting programs that help families navigate their first years with newborns. It cuts funding to youth suicide prevention programs. Education funding is also reduced, even though California schools are in the bottom five states in terms of student-teacher ratios and other staffing supports.
The Governor and legislators can’t claim to prioritize kids if these cuts materialize, especially given our poor rankings around kids’ well-being and our national leadership in other areas. That’s a “California Effect” we don’t want to be associated with. No matter how difficult the budget year, the absolute last place to cut from, and the absolute last people who should sacrifice, are our kids.
Ted Lempert is president of Children Now , a California-based research, policy development and advocacy organization dedicated to improving children’s health, education, and overall well-being
