Kevin Gordon tells La Mesa‑Spring Valley board executive orders are largely symbolic but funding risks remain

Kevin Gordon, president of Capital Advisors, told the La Mesa‑Spring Valley School District board that recent presidential executive orders are unlikely to immediately change school funding but that congressional budget action poses more concrete risks.

“The executive order itself actually doesn’t do anything,” Gordon said, arguing that many executive orders merely direct agency review or require reports back to the White House rather than creating new, immediately available funds or statutory changes. He urged local advocates to keep communicating with congressional and agency staff across party lines to protect programs that serve students.

Gordon told the board the House had passed a continuing resolution (CR) to maintain prior‑year funding levels through September. While he said the CR protects many programs in the short term, it also creates broad appropriation buckets that could allow the administration to reallocate funds. “They’ve sort of created these slush funds in big categories where he can move money all over the place,” Gordon said, calling that unprecedented and a potential threat to domestic discretionary programs.

On longer‑term risk, Gordon warned that changes pursued through reconciliation — a simple‑majority process — could produce deeper cuts next fiscal year. He cited figures discussed in meetings with Hill staff: Title I funding nationwide on the order of $18 billion and special‑education funding around $156 billion, and said House targets being discussed could reach roughly $120 billion in reductions. He characterized those cut targets as “breathtaking” if they advanced through reconciliation.

Gordon also flagged grant programs as especially vulnerable, saying some federal grant awards could be rescinded or trimmed because reviewers are scrutinizing terminology and program descriptions. He described outreach to sympathetic officials to try to preserve critical grants that support inclusion and transitions for students with disabilities.

Turning to the state budget, Gordon said a Prop 98 trigger is directing additional money to K–14 education, producing a roughly $7.1 billion increase between this year and next and one‑time allocations the district will receive. He said the state will distribute a $1.8 billion per‑pupil block grant one time and that the governor had been holding back about $1.6 billion that the legislature looks likely to appropriate. Gordon cautioned that much of the new money is one time and will not solve systemic budget shortfalls.

Gordon reviewed California layoff‑notice requirements and labor protections, explaining that the law and labor agreements often require notices in March to preserve employee rights to plan and job‑search. He advised districts not to adopt permanent budget actions based solely on uncertain federal scenarios.

Board members used a question‑and‑answer period to ask whether the CR had been enacted by both houses and how quickly reconciliation‑driven changes would take effect. Gordon said the CR funds the current federal fiscal year but that any reconciliation measures would take effect with the next fiscal year on Oct. 1; he encouraged board members to engage with the San Diego delegation and attend CSBA advocacy events in Washington to make local impacts.

The presentation was informational; the board did not take formal action during the briefing.