SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 16 (Our California Times) — California schools are returning some money set aside for arts education because they did not spend their full Proposition 28 allocations within the law’s three-year deadline.
The returns affect a program approved by California voters in 2022 that provides about $1 billion each year for arts education in public kindergarten through 12th-grade schools. The money was intended to add arts opportunities for students, but schools have faced difficulties hiring qualified teachers and interpreting the rules for using the funds.
The California Department of Education has not announced how much money has been returned statewide. The available records also do not identify every school or district that returned money, or the amount each one sent back.
What did voters approve?
Proposition 28 created a dedicated source of state funding for arts instruction in California public schools. Each school’s allocation is based mainly on enrollment, with additional funding for schools serving larger numbers of low-income students.
The law requires schools to use at least 80% of the money for additional arts teachers or other arts educators. The remaining funds may be used for supplies, materials and other arts-related expenses.
The money must supplement existing arts programs, rather than replace funding that schools were already providing. That rule is known as “supplement, not supplant.” It means a district generally cannot use Proposition 28 money simply to pay for an existing position or program and then claim it has expanded arts education.
Why has spending been difficult?
Some schools have struggled to find qualified teachers in subjects such as music, dance, theater and visual art. A school may receive money for an additional educator but still be unable to hire someone with the needed training or availability.
School officials have also raised questions about what the law allows. Those questions include how districts can share teachers among schools and how they can spend money when a school cannot meet the requirement that most of its allocation go to educators.
Create CA, a nonprofit that supported Proposition 28, compiled data indicating that dozens — and possibly hundreds — of schools spent none of their allocations. The underlying dataset and a final statewide count were not identified in the available records.
El Dorado County Superintendent of Schools Ed Manansala said the county wants to avoid mistakes as it uses the money. “We need clarity and confidence that we’re doing this the right way,” Manansala said. He also said the county has a long history of supporting the arts and wants to ensure the new funding is handled properly.
What happens to unspent money?
Under Proposition 28, money that remains unspent after three years must be returned to the state. The California Department of Education plans to redistribute returned funds to schools that are using their allocations in compliance with the law, based on annual spending reports.
That process creates a difference between the money a school was allocated and the money students ultimately receive through classes, teachers and supplies. A school may have funds on its books but still lack the staff or plans needed to turn those dollars into additional instruction before the deadline.
The department’s redistribution process could direct some unspent money to schools that have already hired arts educators or otherwise shown that they can use the funds as required. But the state has not released a complete accounting of the first three-year period.
Could the rules change?
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, an elected state legislator, authored Assembly Bill 2440. The measure was reported to have passed the Assembly unanimously in May 2026. It would allow districts to pool funds designated for individual schools and allow districts that cannot meet the 80% educator-spending requirement to seek a waiver from the California Department of Education.
The available records do not establish whether AB 2440 became law, its final language or an effective date. Critics, including former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner, said changes allowing more flexibility could weaken Proposition 28’s requirement that the money expand arts education rather than replace existing programs.
The central question for schools remains practical: how to add arts instruction for students while following rules that limit the ways the money can be spent. Until schools have enough qualified educators and clearer guidance, some of the funding approved by voters may continue to go unused or be returned.
