Staff
- Jackie Barocio
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(916) 319-8333
Child Care, Expanded Learning, School Facilities, and Teachers - Sara Cortez
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(916) 319-8348
Special Education, Preschool, and Child Nutrition - Kenneth Kapphahn
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(916) 319-8339
Proposition 98, School District Budgets, School Transportation - Lisa Qing
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(916) 319-8306
California State University, Student Financial Aid - Paul Steenhausen
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(916) 319-8303
California Community Colleges - Ian Klein
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(916) 319-8336
University of California; College of the Law, San Francisco; California State Library - Michael Alferes
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(916) 319-8338
Local Control Funding Formula, Charter Schools, Alternative Schools, High School Career Technical Education - Edgar Cabral
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(916) 319-8343
Deputy Legislative Analyst: K-12 Education - Jennifer Pacella
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(916) 319-8332
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Higher Education
Publications
Education
To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.
A Look at the Progress of English Learner Students
February 12, 2004 - The 2002 California English Language Development Test documents the progress of more than 1.3 million English learner students in the state. This reports summarizes student achievement as measured by the test and evaluates the rate at which students' English skills improve. On the whole, student progress is slow, although some groups of students appear to make rapid progress.
A Review of California's Compulsory Education Laws
February 2, 2004 - Chapter 465, Statutes of 2000 (SB 1913, McPherson), requires the Legislative Analyst‘s Office (LAO), in consultation with the California District Attorney’s Association and the State Department of Education, to report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of newly established penalties for parents who violate the state’s compulsory education laws. In this report, we: (1) provide background information on the state’s compulsory attendance laws and the interventions to be taken if these laws are violated, as well as explain how homeschooling served as the impetus for important provisions of Chapter 465 and (2) review the implementation of these laws and interventions. We also recommend the Legislature: (1) clarify existing laws related to homeschooling and truancy penalties and (2) improve related data collection efforts.
Assessing California's Charter Schools
January 20, 2004 - We recommend that the Legislature (1) remove the cap on the number of charter schools that may operate in the state, (2) restructure the charter school categorical block grant, (3) strengthen charter school oversight by permitting school districts to opt out of charter authorizing, allowing for multiple authorizers, and creating safeguards to promote stronger accountability and (4) modify fee policies by delineating more clearly between facility fees and oversight fees, capping these fees, and eliminating the mandate-claims process for oversight costs.
The Distribution of K-12 Education General Purpose Funds
December 22, 2003 - The K-12 revenue limit formula distributed more than $28 billion in resources to school districts in 2002-03. We document the components of the revenue limit formula and how they affect the distribution of general purpose funds to school districts. We also recommend that the Legislature consolidate most of the existing revenue limit adjustments into one new general purpose grant which would make K-12 funding much easier to understand.
Impact of Governor's Spending Cap Proposal on Proposition 98
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December 2, 2003 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee on December 2, 2003.
Use of Design-Build for K-12 School Construction: Interim Report
October 24, 2003 - Chapter 421, Statutes of 2001 (AB 1402, Simitian) authorizes school districts to enter into "design-build" contracts for specified construction projects and to submit specific information about these projects to the LAO upon completion of construction. This interim report describes the design-build process and reports that, thus far, no districts have reported to the LAO that they are using the design-build authorization provided by Chapter 421.
Charter School Operations and Performance: Evidence from California (RAND Policy Brief)
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July 14, 2003 - Charter schools generally do as well as traditional public schools in fostering reading and mathematics achievement even though they receive fewer state funds and employ fewer teachers with full state credentials, according to a report prepared by RAND. The LAO contracted with RAND to perform this evaluation, which was required by Chapter 34, Statutes of 1998 (AB 544, Lempert). See http://www.lao.ca.gov/2003/RAND_charter/053003_RAND_Charter_Schools.pdf for the full report (1.3 MB) and http://www.lao.ca.gov2003/RAND_charter/surveys.pdf for the surveys (42 MB).
High Priority Schools Grant Program Expansion
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May 6, 2003 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on May 6, 2003.
Integration of State and Federal Accountability Programs
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May 6, 2003 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on May 6, 2003.
Class Size Reduction (CSR) Overview
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April 29, 2003 - Presented to the Latino Legislative Caucus, California Legislative Black Caucus, and Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus on April 29, 2003.
Child Care Budget for 2003-04 Without Realignment
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April 28, 2003 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 28, 2003.
Integration of State and Federal Accountability Programs
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April 21, 2003 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 21, 2003.
High Priority Schools Grant Program Expansion
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April 21, 2003 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 21, 2003.
Overview of No Child Left Behind Title VI Assessment Funding
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April 21, 2003 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 21, 2003.