The Board That Nearly Quadrupled Its Pay — While Offering Staff Pennies

While teachers fight for tiny raises, Modesto school board members just voted to nearly quadruple their own pay under a Newsom-backed law.

Story Snapshot

Modesto City Schools board members approved boosting their own pay from $765 to as much as $3,000 per month under a new California law.
Assembly Bill 1390, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, raised school board pay caps up to fivefold statewide based on district size.
Parents, teachers, and taxpayer advocates are furious that board members grabbed the new maximum while school budgets face pressure.
The move fits a growing pattern of California school boards rushing to the new pay ceiling even as classroom staff see far smaller gains.

Newsom’s Law Opened the Door to Huge School Board Pay Hikes

California lawmakers quietly passed Assembly Bill 1390 to let local school and county education boards pay themselves up to five times more per month, depending on student enrollment. Before the change, many trustees topped out at $750 or $1,500 a month. AB 1390 raised those ceilings to a range of $600 to $4,500, tied to average daily attendance in each district. Supporters claimed the old limits dated back about 40 years and did not reflect inflation or modern workloads.

For a district the size of Modesto City Schools, which falls into the 25,001 to 60,000 student range, the new maximum pay allowed by law is $3,000 per month. This increase took effect starting January 1, 2026, putting big new sums on the table for any board willing to vote itself a raise. Legal groups and education associations quickly told districts that AB 1390 “allows governing boards to increase their compensation,” making clear the decision now sits with local trustees.

Modesto Board Grabs the New Maximum While Workers Struggle

Armed with this new authority, the Modesto City Schools Board of Education voted to jump its members’ monthly compensation from $765 to $3,000. Local coverage describes the change as a “large trustee pay raise” and “nearly quadrupling” their pay. One national outlet reported the board first greenlit a $1,500 stipend with a later rise to $3,000, but other reports and local summaries focus on the $3,000 figure approved at the meeting. Either way, trustees used Newsom’s higher cap to push their pay toward the ceiling.

Parents, teachers, and school staff packed the public meeting and blasted the decision as out of touch. One teachers’ representative summed up the frustration by warning that just because the board could go to the maximum, that did not mean it should. Taxpayer advocates also questioned the timing, saying that big board pay hikes are a “questionable priority” while California districts deal with budget pressures and enrollment shifts. Many residents see a clear message: when money is tight, board members take care of themselves first.

Raises for Trustees Outpace Modest Gains for Teachers and Staff

Modesto’s own bargaining updates show how large the gap is between board raises and worker offers. In recent negotiations, the district proposed a 2.25 percent salary increase for certificated staff, with another 2.25 percent the next year and a one-time 0.5 percent payment. That totals a little over a 4.5 percent ongoing raise spread across two years, plus a small bonus. Classified employees were offered a 2 percent ongoing raise, a $350 one-time payment, and some added health benefits.

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By contrast, board members are moving from hundreds of dollars per month to several thousand in one stroke. While staff get low single-digit bumps, trustees push for increases approaching 300 to 400 percent, depending on which baseline you use. For many conservative families, this looks like classic government behavior: politicians and insiders use new laws to enrich themselves while preaching “equity” and “shared sacrifice” to everyone else. It also deepens mistrust in a school system already rocked by culture wars and academic decline.

Part of a Wider California Trend That Alarms Taxpayers

Modesto is not alone. Across California, other districts rushed to tap AB 1390’s higher ceilings as soon as they became available. Fresno Unified trustees moved to double their own salaries under the same bill once they realized they could earn up to $7,500 a month based on their size. In the San Diego area, multiple school boards approved trustee stipend hikes ranging from 300 to 400 percent, drawing sharp backlash from workers and parents. These increases often arrived while employees faced layoffs or cuts.

In Elk Grove, near Sacramento, the school board approved a fourfold raise, going from a maximum of $750 a month to $3,000, even as it also approved layoffs in the same period. Reports show that in district after district, trustees are not choosing modest increases or step-by-step adjustments; they are jumping straight toward the new maximums that Newsom’s law made possible. For constitutional conservatives who value limited government and fiscal discipline, this pattern raises deeper questions about accountability in one-party states where taxpayers have little real leverage.