By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
For the new school year, all schools in California school districts have been opened with expanded services: 98 percent have increased educational opportunities for returning students.
Thus, 95 percent of school districts in California have expanded mental health and wellness services, 73 percent reported increasing after-school programs, and 83 percent reported increasing learning acceleration programs.
To learn about additional services, parents can refer to the new School Districts Expanded Opportunities Mapwhich provides region-specific data.
The $123.9 billion K-12 education package has served to create investments in AB 86, which seeks to meet the immediate needs of students.
According to the California government, to support children as a whole in a long-term transformation, $4.3 billion will be used to transform the youth behavioral health system. It will focus on early identification of trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, among other issues.
In addition, $3 billion will be used to create thousands of full-service community schools; and $650 million in ongoing funding for universal free school nutrition.
For increased learning time, $1.8 billion will be allocated, increasing to $5 billion by 2025, with the intention of achieving universal access to summer and after-school programs.
Also, Transitional Kindergarten or universal TK for all four-year-olds by 2025, with an additional year of public education.
In this regard, $300 million will also be invested for the prekindergarten teacher portfolio, and $490 million to build and renovate state preschool, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten facilities.
Finally, and with the vision of improving the quality of learning time, the government explained that $1.1 billion in ongoing funding will be allocated for high-poverty schools to hire up to five teachers, educators and counselors.
It will give $2.9 billion to expand the teacher pipeline and match teachers with vulnerable students, in addition to awarding $250 million to attract expert board-certified teachers to high-need schools, and $1.5 billion to improve special education.
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