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Executive budget boosts K'12 funding and proposes ESA income cap changes
Summary
The FY2026 executive budget adds more than $500M for K'12, increases basic state aid by $285M, funds teacher pipelines and proposes scaled income-cap reforms for the empowerment scholarship account to save about $150M annually starting FY2026.
Tyler Hagadorn, a senior budget analyst with OSPB, summarized more than $500 million in K'12 investments included in the FY2026 executive budget and described proposed changes to the empowerment scholarship account (ESA) program.
Key education spending items include a $285.0 million increase to basic state aid to prevent reductions tied to the expiration of Proposition 123, a $173,000 adjustment associated with an inflation measure and several targeted investments: $37M toward reinstatements for meal-eligibility weights, $3.8M to continue the school meals grant program, $1M for a Native American code writers program, and $250,000 to modernize the teacher certification system.
The executive budget also proposes a scaled income-cap reform for the universal ESA that would modify eligibility beginning FY2026; OSPB estimates the reform will yield about $150 million in annual general fund savings while keeping protections for students with special needs and other narrowly defined categories.
