Brown Wants to Change School Funding

California Gov. Jerry Brown will push to change school funding this year, according to local reports.

The Democratic governor wants to shift money to poorer school district and end required spending on certain programs, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Brown would cut back and potentially end some state rules that force schools to spend money on specific things, the report said.

The proposal is expected to be part of his budget that will be released later this month.

The newspaper cited figures from the state Department of Finance that said 56 programs set up by state mandate received $11.8 billion last year.

The governor told the paper that spending sets up a bloated school bureaucracy.

Brown’s push comes as school finances have started to improve.

The governor pushed for the passage of Proposition 30 in November, which prevented further cuts to the state’s education system.

California’s cash flow has also improved enough to allow to the state to reduce the amount of money it had planned to hold back from schools, local governments and other programs.

The state government will release $1.8 billion of the backed payments one month ahead of schedule in December, and it will forgo more than $900 million of the so-called cash deferrals previously set for March.

A California lawmaker has also introduced a bill that would put a state school construction bond proposition on a ballot in 2014.

Assembly Bill 41, from Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would create a general obligation bond act to provide funds to construct and upgrade school facilities.

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