California kids will suffer after a last-minute state budget cut stripped key research resources from public-school libraries, leaving millions of students without the materials they need for class projects and homework.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers erased $5.5 million from the just-approved state budget for a school program called Compass, which is a popular online database of research and curriculum material that’s been vetted by teachers and librarians.
The Compass program pays the online fees for thousands of online materials used by students and teachers including the Encyclopedia Britannica, National Geographic, PBS videos such as Ken Burns documentaries, scientific journals, and more.
The cut goes into effect on July 1, 2027 and was made without any warning.
“We had no idea this was coming,” said Greg Lucas, head of the California State Library, which helps oversee the Compass program for the state’s 10,000 public schools, told CalMatters.
“This will have a huge impact on California students,” Lucas said.
Since Compass launched in 2018, it’s received nearly 1 billion hits, the nonprofit news outlet reports. The vast majority of Compass users are at K-12 schools, although the program is also available through public libraries.
Compass is available free to all schools in California. Schools would spend more than $216 million annually if they were to subscribe individually to all the materials available on the program, according to a State Library report.
“A student half a century ago might browse an encyclopedia volume or nonfiction book to learn something new,” the State Library report says. “Today they can log onto an ad-free Compass resource to do something similar.”
And, with the vetted Compass program, “parents can rest assured that the student is guided by a desire to learn and not by a mysterious algorithm intended to sell advertising or track users.”
Educators said the cut deprives today’s digital learners from accessing materials that can be used for classroom assignments, as well as recreation.
“Losing Compass is catastrophic for the state of California,” Kate MacMillan, library services coordinator for Napa Valley Unified told CalMatters. “This service is a lifeline. I can’t believe the legislature would let this happen.”
Earlier versions of the $351.7-billion state budget debated by the state lawmakers contained funding for Compass.
But the final version of the newly approved budget eliminates money for the program after July 1, 2027.
Instead, it puts $5 million toward the state’s new dyslexia screener and provides $60,000 for a web-based lesson-sharing platform called California Educators Together.
The final version of the budget also delays $3.9 billion in constitutionally guaranteed Proposition 98 funding for K-12 schools and community colleges, although it does leave many classroom programs intact.
California Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said the decision to cut Compass wasn’t part of Newsom’s latest budget proposal, even if he did approve it.
“Now, to be clear: the Governor did indeed sign the budget late yesterday that contained this provision,” said Palmer. “But to suggest that this was an original proposal from the Governor would be incorrect and inaccurate.”
As part of California’s newly approved $351.7 billion state budget, Newsom and state lawmakers also allocated $40 million to help counties process ballots more quickly before the November general election.
The package includes $29 million for counties to hire additional election workers and upgrade ballot-processing equipment, but critics say it addresses the symptoms rather than the underlying cause.