The protracted talks means that families of 390,000 students still must scramble to make contingency plans for their children Tuesday - and some 70,000 workers, including teachers and school principals, don't know if they will be at work or on a picket line.
The state budget's chronic gaps between income and outgo $125 billion over the last few years, according to the Legislature's fiscal advisor have left Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators scrambling for ways to clean up the state's finances. Newsom has so far shunned new taxes to close the gap, even trying to sidetrack a tax on the assets of billionaires that may appear on the November ballot.