Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
This Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled that, as part of his California Recovery Plan, an additional $20 billion will be invested to support the potential of every public school student in the state and make the structural change necessary to reduce barriers and increase opportunity across the board.
This includes massive investments at the public kindergarten level, creating universal prekindergarten and college savings accounts for 3.7 million low-income infants in public schools.
"We are doing more than just fully reopening for the next school year, we are proposing historic investments in public schools to create new opportunities for every student, especially those most in need, so that every child can thrive, regardless of race or zip code," Newsom said.
"To achieve this goal, we are going big, targeting $20 billion in investments to transform our public schools, including the creation of universal pre-kindergarten and the establishment of college savings accounts for 3.7 million disadvantaged children for higher education or to start their own business," he added.
Under California's Recovery Plan, the state will make targeted investments of $20 billion in public education to ensure that every public school can fundamentally transform into the kind of complete campus that every parent would want for their child: before- and after-school instruction, sports and arts, one-on-one tutoring, nurses and counselors, and nutrition, along with new preventive behavioral health services for all children.
This includes $3 billion to create thousands of full-service community schools with comprehensive mental health, social and family services; $4 billion over five years to transform the youth behavioral health system to identify and treat behavioral health needs early; and billions more for investments in accelerated learning and our teachers and school staff.
To make college more affordable for low-income California children, the governor proposes to invest $2 billion to generate college savings accounts for vulnerable students currently enrolled in K-12 public schools, including a $500 base deposit for students from low-income families, English language learners and foster youth, and a $500 supplemental deposit for foster and homeless youth.
The savings account can be used later in life for higher education or to start one's own business, the governor said.
California will also finally achieve universal prekindergarten, providing free, high-quality transitional kindergarten to all California four-year-olds, regardless of income or immigration status.
The Comeback Plan also adds 100,000 child care spaces and subsidies to reduce the cost of child care.
