Assembly Member Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno) announced that her budget committee approved $1.4 billion in new spending for K-12 education, community colleges, and financial aid for needy students.

"Our children are our future and this budget increase will provide them with the opportunities to succeed in the world," said Assembly Member Reyes. "I am proud of this education funding package because with the additional money the schools in my district will be able to purchase new textbooks, increase teacher salaries and meet their local educational needs."

Out of the $1 billion in additional spending for K-12 education, $750 million will go to school districts in the form of discretionary spending, which will be used for teacher salaries, supplies for classrooms and other local educational needs.

Community colleges will receive $300 million for strengthening the quality of teaching, increasing opportunities for poorer students to attend a community college, and expanding economic development partnerships between community colleges and private businesses.

This additional spending will provide 1,349 more economic partnerships and 4,332 more students in professional programs at the community colleges.

The Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance also approved an additional $100 million for financial aid, which will provide an additional 22,500 new financial aid awards for needy qualified students.

"I am pleased that this additional $1.4 billion in new spending for education will help more students in the valley attend college through the increase in Cal Grant awards and also provide our schools with discretionary money to meet the state's accountability standards," said Assembly Member Sarah Reyes. "As a representative for my school districts I have heard unanimously that more local control was needed and I made that my highest priority in this years budget."

For more information, contact Paul Holmes or Shannon Mahoney.

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