Staff
- 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 Community Colleges - Michael Alferes
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(916) 319-8338
Local Control Funding Formula, Charter Schools, Alternative Schools, High School Career Technical Education - Ian Klein
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(916) 319-8336
University of California; College of the Law, San Francisco; California State Library - Natalie Gonzalez
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(916) 319-8362
California State University, Student Financial Aid - 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.
The 2023-24 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges
November 16, 2022 - Each year, the state calculates a “minimum guarantee” for school and community college funding based upon a set of formulas established by Proposition 98 (1988). Based upon recent signs of weakness in the economy, we estimate the guarantee in 2023‑24 is $2.2 billion (2 percent) below the 2022‑23 enacted budget level. Despite this drop, $7.6 billion would be available to provide increases for school and community college programs. In 2023‑24, the available funding could cover a cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) of up to 8.38 percent, which is slightly below our estimate of the statutory rate (8.73 percent). Over the next several years, growth in the guarantee and required reserve withdrawals would be just enough to cover the statutory COLA. Given this relatively precarious balance, we outline a few ways the Legislature could create a larger cushion to protect against revenue declines in the future.
The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Higher Education
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October 4, 2022 - This post summarizes the state’s 2022-23 spending package for higher education. It is part of our Spending Plan series. In this post, we provide a short overview of the state’s higher education spending package, then cover spending for the California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), student financial aid, student housing, and California State Library.
The 2022-23 Budget: California Spending Plan Series
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September 29, 2022 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The Overview of the California Spending Plan is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2022-23 budget package. As more of these posts become available, we will add them below.
Higher Education May Revision Proposals
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May 18, 2022 - Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
Higher Education May Revision Proposals
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May 17, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
The 2022-23 Budget: Office of Planning and Research Higher Education Proposals
May 10, 2022 - The Office of Planning and Research (OPR) is tasked by state law to support statewide planning and research activities. Among its many activities, the office has overseen certain higher education initiatives. This post analyzes three higher education OPR proposals in the Governor’s January budget for 2022‑23 related to the California Education Learning Laboratory, the Golden State Awards, and Carnegie Science.
The 2022-23 Budget: Hastings College of the Law
May 10, 2022 - The Governor’s January budget proposes a $2 million (12 percent) General Fund base increase for the Hastings College of the Law (Hastings) in 2022‑23. After accounting for other revenue increases (primarily from student tuition revenue), Hastings’ total ongoing core budget would increase by $5 million (6.7 percent). Generally, we think the Governor’s proposal is a good starting point for budget deliberations. This is because Hastings’ corresponding expenditure plan primarily focuses on basic workload adjustments. That said, we emphasize that this proposal is a starting point. The Legislature likely will want to weigh this proposal against its other 2022‑23 budget priorities. Moreover, we note that Hastings could face higher‑than‑expected costs in 2022‑23 as part of its recent initiative to change its name.
The 2022-23 Budget: Cybersecurity at the California Community Colleges
March 30, 2022 - This post provides background on cybersecurity issues at the California Community Colleges, describes the Governor's proposal to provide funding for various cybersecurity upgrades, assesses the Governor's proposal, and makes associated recommendations.
The 2022-23 Budget: Middle Class Scholarship Program
March 30, 2022 - This post describes the differences between the original Middle Class Scholarship program and the revamped program scheduled to go into effect in 2022-23. It then examines the estimated impacts of the revamped program and raises associated issues for legislative consideration.
The 2022-23 Budget: CCC Chancellor's Office Staffing
March 29, 2022 - Provides background on the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, discusses the Governor's proposal to add 19 new staffing positions and associated funding over a two-year period, and assesses and offers recommendations on the proposal.
The 2022-23 Budget: Analysis of the Care Economy Workforce Development Package
March 10, 2022 - This post analyzes the Governor’s proposed Care Economy Workforce Development Package. We provide an assessment and recommendations for both the package as a whole and for two specific components of the package.
The 2022-23 Budget: California State Library
February 18, 2022 - This post analyzes the Governor's four budget proposals for the California State Library in 2022-23. The proposals focus on digitization activities, online job training programs, the Lunch at the Library program, and the California State Library's building rental costs.
Correction (2/22/22): Description of 2021-22 General Fund support for CAreer Pathways has been corrected.
The 2022-23 Budget: Student Financial Aid
February 18, 2022 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals related to student financial aid at the California Student Aid Commission, the Scholarshare Investment Board, and the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.