Fair Pay for Educators Act: local control funding formula: base grants: funding targets.

Assembly Member Muratsuchi's Fair Pay for Educators Act proposes substantial increases to California's education funding formulas, aiming to raise wages for teachers and school staff by 50% when fully implemented in 2036-37. The legislation adjusts the Local Control Funding Formula to increase base grants for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools.

The bill doubles current per-pupil base grant amounts, raising them to $14,879 for grades K-3, $15,104 for grades 4-6, $15,551 for grades 7-8, and $18,023 for grades 9-12. County offices of education would receive increased operations grants, with the base amount rising to $1.3 million plus additional funding per school district and per student. Small schools and necessary small high schools would see proportional increases in their funding allocations.

These enhanced funding levels would be adjusted annually for inflation using the Implicit Price Deflator for state and local government purchases. The legislation maintains existing supplemental and concentration grant add-ons for high-needs students, while increasing the transitional kindergarten per-pupil allocation to $8,318. School districts must continue meeting class size requirements in grades K-3 to receive the associated adjustment funding.

The bill establishes a 10-year implementation timeline leading to full funding in 2036-37, with the stated purpose of closing compensation gaps and improving recruitment and retention of school site staff through local bargaining. State special schools for deaf and blind students would receive comparable increases to enable similar wage adjustments.