Urging the Legislature to Release Prop 98 Settle-Up Funds

Dear Chair Alvarez and Members of the Subcommittee,

As a lead delegate to the Oakland Unified School District's LCAP Parent and Student Advisory Committee, and elected Chair of the School Site Council at Peralta Elementary in Oakland, I am writing to urge the Subcommittee to support the full release of Proposition 98 settle-up funds for use in the 2026-2027 budget.

The Governor's January budget revises the Prop 98 guarantee at $121.4 billion, but appropriates only $115.9 billion — deferring $5.6 billion of constitutionally guaranteed funds for public schools in our state. While Prop 98 settle up funds have been withheld (for three consecutive years now), districts across the state (including ours) are facing dire financial conditions.

While OUSD and its community is coming to terms with the need to reduce structural deficits, several factors outside of our control, including the costs of labor and healthcare benefits in California, have an immediate, outsized impact on this fiscal crisis; the proposed 2.41% COLA falls far short of actual cost growth (CalPERS premiums rose 8.21%, with inflation in California at ~3.5%), while enrollment declines statewide decrease our funding overall. It is impossible for districts and their families to make responsible multi-year plans that center the well-being of our students when the constitutional guarantee that makes up the bulk of our funding is perennially, arbitrarily deferred.

After several months of research and participation in discussions with the board, district stakeholders and families, I believe that I have a wide view of how OUSD came to where it stands today. We surely have to make and endure many hard decisions to repair our district. I can tell you that the hard work is going on right now, as we try and work together to make difficult choices, and a lack of funding in the short term is threatening to turn our work into an ugly fight between neighbors over scarce resources. These deferred, one-time funds guaranteed to our school districts cannot be better spent than investing in our ability to re-structure right now.

I respectfully and urgently ask the Subcommittee to release the full $5.6 billion in settle-up funds, oppose further deferrals, and require that any future holdbacks go to the Prop 98 Reserve as recommended by the LAO. I am only one of many people trying to do our part to support meaningful reform and accountability around spending in our district. We simply need the state to honor its constitutional commitment to our children.

Respectfully submitted,

Matt Glaser Lead Delegate to PSAC, OUSD