Sacramento Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday that includes a $2.4 billion increase for special education programs in California schools, calling the budget a step toward improving services for students across the state. 

“The investments now are about to take place and shape to answer the concern that these are dollars moving forward. I can’t make up for the past,” Newsom said during a news conference. “We’ve been muddling along, doing better than we were in the past,” Newsom said. He acknowledged concerns that rising special education costs were helping push districts such as Sacramento City Unified toward fiscal insolvency, an indication that the state’s previous efforts were “not good enough.”