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February 22, 2005 - Presented to the Assembly Higher Education Committee on February 22, 2005.
February 16, 2005 - Chapter 892, Statutes of 2001, (SB 740, O’Connell), directed our office to extend our contract with the RAND Corporation to include an assessment of the state’s process for funding nonclassroom-based charter schools. RAND found that the state’s funding determination process had reduced nonclass-room-based charter schools’ possible misuse of funds. The process also resulted in non-classroom-based schools increasing spending on instruction and teacher compensation. It did not, however, result in an increase in students’ exposure to teachers. Compared to the state’s existing “threshold” funding approach, RAND suggests the state use a more holistic funding determination process that still could detect possible financial wrong-doing without triggering automatic funding cuts for schools that might have reasonable justifications for their different expenditure patterns. Report Summary
February 9, 2005 - Presented to a joint hearing of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittees No. 1 and No. 3 on February 9, 2005.
February 8, 2005 - Proposition 98 is a complex formula for setting a minimum annual funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges. This primer is intended to assist the Legislature in understanding the basic "mechanics" of the proposition and showing how it has affected school spending since its passage in 1988. We also describe the Governor's proposed changes to Proposition 98 and discuss our concerns about how they would diminish legislative budget authority.
February 7, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Rules Committee on February 2, 2005.
February 2, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Rules Committee on February 2, 2005.
September 21, 2004 - This report examines various options for funding higher education enrollment at different rates depending on type of instruction, class level, and other factors.
August 23, 2004 - Presented to Conference Committee on August 23, 2004.
June 28, 2004 - This report summarizes a recent report measuring how well the state's universities are meeting their eligibility targets as called for in the state's Master Plan.
June 23, 2004 - Faculty research generates substantial overhead revenue for UC, and a portion of this revenue is intended to pay for the construction of faculty research facilities. We find, however, that most of this research facility revenue is being used by UC for other purposes. Since hundreds of millions of dollars a year are available to UC to fund construction of faculty research facilities, we recommend the Legislature treat faculty research facilities in the same manner as it treats other higher education facilities that can be "self-funded." We recommend faculty research facilities be funded by reimbursements using nonstate funds rather than General Fund-backed bonds. This will free up hundreds of millions of dollars of scarce state resources for other high priority projects in higher education or other program areas.
June 10, 2004 - Presented To Budget Conference Committee on June 2, 2004
June 1, 2004 - Presented to Assembly Higher Education Committee on June 1, 2004.
June 1, 2004 - Presented to Assembly Higher Education Committee on June 1, 2004.
May 17, 2004 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 and Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on May 17, 2004.
May 12, 2004 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on May 12, 2004.