The California Teachers Association lashed out at Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, as they reported that more than 100 California school districts have issued 2,400 preliminary layoff notices in the last month.

The controversial plan, included in Newsom’s 2026-27 budget proposal, would withhold $5.6 billion in constitutionally mandated, voter-approved education funding required under Proposition 98.

Diverting school funding at a time when districts across the state are struggling with multimillion-dollar budget deficits and laying off thousands of staff will likely further exacerbate teacher shortages and threaten students’ education, CTA officials said.

They criticized Newsom for proposing the move while also touting historic funding for California schools and students. His latest budget proposal would increase overall education spending by more than $10 billion in new funding, but the union says that number is nothing to celebrate if billions from Prop. 98 are withheld at the same time.

“Prop. 98 isn’t a piggy bank you get to borrow from. It’s the law that entitles our students to the funding they need to learn,” said CTA president David B. Goldberg. “Prop. 98 is the floor –– not the ceiling –– and this governor is trying to dig a big hole in that floor instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share.”

The warning comes on the heels of a letter from districts across the region calling on state legislators to reject the proposal and intervene to address major education funding issues facing public schools across the state.

The CTA said Newsom’s plan would reduce state school funding by nearly $1,000 per student.

Newsom said the move to defer the funding and repay it at a later, unspecified point is necessary to create a cushion for uncertain state revenue projections and to avoid potentially allocating more money to schools than is actually available, since the budget isn’t finalized until the summer.

But because each year’s Proposition 98 funding guarantee is calculated through a complex formula that uses previous years’ funding allocations to serve as a baseline for future years, any change to the funding guarantee could impact school funding for years to come.

It’s the second time Newsom has proposed deferring funding guaranteed under Proposition 98 — the 1988 ballot measure that requires roughly 40% of the state’s general fund to go to K-12 schools and community colleges — due to state budget shortfalls. He proposed withholding $8.8 billion in 2024, which prompted a lawsuit by the California School Boards Association, and deferred $1.9 billion from the 2024-25 budget.

The proposal comes at a time when dozens of school districts have announced layoffs, budget cuts or school closures this year to repair gaping budget deficits.

Districts are required to send preliminary layoff notices by March 15 but have until May 15 to rescind or finalize those notices.

The teachers union said the total number of layoffs across the state could be much higher than 2,400, as those layoffs are merely the number of reduction-in-force notices — a notification that educators may be terminated due to budget constraints, declining enrollment or program cuts rather than performance issues — given to union-represented districts.

“Unless corrected by the legislature, this shell game will result in larger class sizes, even less mental health support for students and further deepen the escalating recruitment and retention crisis of public school teachers,” the union said in a news release.

Newsom will submit a revised budget with updated revenue information in mid-May, and the state Legislature will have until mid-June to discuss it before the budget is finalized.

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