Newsom Law Sparks Pay Grabs Statewide

California school boards are now handing themselves giant pay raises, and taxpayers are left wondering who is watching the store.

Quick Take

A new state law lets school boards raise their own pay after decades of flat caps.
One Northern California board approved a jump from $240 to $1,200 a month.
Supporters say the law tracks inflation and broader board duties.
Critics say the timing looks bad when schools still face budget pressure.

How California Opened the Door

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1390 in October 2025, and the law took effect on January 1, 2026.^[1]^[2] The bill rewrote the old compensation caps for school district and county board members. For districts with average daily attendance between 1,001 and 10,000, the ceiling rose from $240 to $1,200 a month.^[1]^[6]^[8]

Supporters say the change was overdue. The California School Boards Association, which backed the bill, said the old limits had not changed in more than 40 years and did not reflect inflation or a heavier workload.^[1]^[2] Newsom’s signing statement said the goal was to keep school board service accessible to people who support themselves and their families while still serving the public.^[2]

Why the Raises Are Drawing Heat

The backlash comes from the size of the jump and the public mood around school spending. AB 1390 allows local boards to approve higher pay only if they do it in a public meeting and only if the district has the financial capacity to do so responsibly.^[2]^[5] Even so, critics argue that any board raise looks out of touch when schools face tight budgets, teacher pay fights, and rising costs across California.^[3]^[14]

That frustration is not hard to understand. California schools are still dealing with special education costs, pensions, health benefits, liability insurance, and enrollment losses that strain local budgets.^[14] National Education Association data also shows teacher pay has lost ground to inflation over the past decade, which makes board raises an easy target for voters who already believe education dollars are misused.^[15]^[16]

The Modesto Vote Shows the New Reality

The New York Post reported that a Northern California board approved a raise from $765 to $1,500 a month, with a later move to $3,000 planned for the 2027-28 school year.^[17] KQED reported that another board unanimously voted to raise its pay from $275.63 to $1,200 a month under the new law.^[12] Those moves show the law is not just theory. It is already reshaping what local officials can pay themselves.^[12]^[17]

That does not mean every raise is illegal or even unusual under the new statute. The law was built to let local boards decide whether their district can afford more compensation.^[2]^[3]^[6] But the optics remain brutal. When parents see layoffs, classroom shortages, and budget warnings, they are unlikely to cheer a board that votes itself a bigger check without a clear local explanation.^[3]^[14]

What This Means for Taxpayers

The larger issue is trust. California lawmakers and school board allies say higher pay can widen the pool of people who can serve, especially those who cannot afford to volunteer huge amounts of time for little money.^[1]^[2] Critics say that argument sounds noble but still leaves taxpayers paying more for another layer of government. Without local budget details, meeting minutes, or a district-specific workload study, the public is left to guess whether the raise was need-based or simply convenient.

That gap matters because AB 1390 leaves the final call to local boards.^[2]^[5] If a district can show real financial capacity and a real need to recruit and retain trustees, it can defend the raise on the facts. If it cannot, the decision will look like another case of Sacramento opening the door and local officials walking right through it while families absorb the cost.