UNITE-LA recognizes the work of Gov. Newsom in maintaining his commitments in a difficult budget cycle to protect and advance child care, TK-12 schools and higher education. We urge the Governor and Legislature to not lose sight of California's pandemic-recovery emphasis on creating a strong education and workforce system that stimulates economic mobility, particularly for our historically marginalized communities.

We support the Administration's efforts to:

• Maintain investments in child care and preschool.
• Maintain per pupil investments of $23,159 (12 years ago: $8,756).
• Maintain $4.1 billion: Community Schools.
• Maintain $3.5 billion: Educator Workforce.
• Relax requirements to address teacher shortage.
• Invest in educational opportunities for health care workers.
• Support community college enrollment growth through cost-of-living adjustments.
• Prioritize systems alignment through the Master Plan for Career Education.

We urge the Administration to work with the Legislature and advocates to:

• Maintain funding for CSUs and UCs to incentive enrollment and student supports.
• Fully enact Cal Grant Reform.
• Continue to invest in housing for students.
• Incorporate funding that prioritizes the educational needs for our state's 1.1 million English learners.
• Maintain the funding for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development grant.
• Maintain Funding for California Jobs First (Formerly the Community Economic Resilience Fund).
• Maintain funding for High Road Training Partnerships.
• Uphold all investments for apprenticeships and training programs.

For more information or to get involved in UNITE-LA's policy work, please contact Humberto Estratalán, Director of Public Policy, at [email protected].