SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 16 (Our California Times) — California schools are beginning to return unused money from Proposition 28, the 2022 ballot measure that set aside about $1 billion a year for arts education in public K-12 schools.
The money was intended to expand access to classes such as music, dance, theater and visual arts. But some schools and districts have not been able to spend their full allocations within the time allowed by state law. The California Department of Education has not announced how much money is being returned statewide.
The result is a complicated situation: Schools have new money for arts programs, but they must follow rules that can make the money difficult to use, especially when districts cannot find qualified arts teachers or are unsure which expenses are allowed.
What Proposition 28 requires
Proposition 28 distributes funding mainly according to student enrollment. Schools serving larger populations of low-income students receive additional funding.
At least 80% of each school’s allocation must be used for additional arts staff or educators. The rest can be used for supplies, materials and other arts-related expenses.
The law also says the money must supplement existing arts programs, not replace money that schools were already spending. In other words, a district generally cannot use Proposition 28 funding simply to pay for an existing arts teacher or program and then shift the old money elsewhere.
Those rules are intended to make sure the new funding produces expanded arts opportunities for students. But they also limit how districts can respond when they have trouble hiring teachers or fitting new programs into their schedules.
Why schools have struggled to spend it
School officials have cited a shortage of qualified arts educators as one obstacle. Schools may receive money for a new teacher but still be unable to fill the position.
Officials have also described uncertainty about how the funding may legally be used. Questions can include whether schools may share a teacher among campuses, combine funds or pay for particular services and supplies.
El Dorado County Superintendent of Schools Ed Manansala said the county wants to expand arts education while following the law.
“We need clarity and confidence that we’re doing this the right way,” Manansala said.
He also said the county has a long history of supporting the arts and wants to make sure it handles the funding properly.
The practical effect for students can vary by school. A campus that cannot hire an additional music, dance, theater or visual-arts teacher may not add the class or may have to delay its expansion. The available information does not establish a statewide count of unfilled arts positions or identify every school that has returned money.
Create CA, a nonprofit that supported Proposition 28, compiled data indicating that dozens — and possibly hundreds — of schools spent none of their allocations. The underlying dataset and a statewide total of returned funds were not identified in the available records.
Why the money must be returned
Under Proposition 28, unspent funds must be returned to the state after three years. The first three-year spending period has ended, and schools have begun returning money they did not use.
The California Department of Education plans to redistribute unspent funds to schools that are using Proposition 28 money properly. The redistribution is based on annual spending reports submitted by schools and districts.
That means returned money is not necessarily lost to California’s public schools permanently. But it may no longer be available to the school that received the original allocation. Students at that school could miss out on planned arts classes, additional instructional time or new supplies while the district works through the rules and hiring challenges.
What remains unclear
The California Department of Education has not released the total amount returned after the first three-year period. The available information also does not provide a statewide list of schools and districts that returned money or the amount returned by each one.
The law’s supplement-not-supplant requirement has also raised questions about whether some districts are using the funding for positions, programs or supplies that existed before Proposition 28. Arts groups and labor leaders have called for stronger documentation showing that districts are complying with the law.
The central issue is not whether California has committed money to arts education. Voters approved that commitment in 2022. The challenge is turning the statewide allocation into actual classes for students while meeting staffing, spending and reporting requirements.
For districts such as those in El Dorado County, the next steps involve determining which programs qualify, finding educators and documenting that the new funding expands access rather than replaces existing support.
