Staff
- Sara Cortez
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(916) 319-8348
Special Education, Preschool, Child Nutrition, and Facilities - 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 - Natalie Gonzalez
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(916) 319-8320
California State University, Student Financial Aid - Dylan Hawksworth-Lutzow
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(916) 319-8308
Child Care, Expanded Learning, Teachers, and Education Technology - 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.
Overview of Special Education in California
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May 5, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
Next Steps for Improving State Accountability for Alternative Schools
April 16, 2015 -
The state authorizes six types of alternative schools to provide educational options for students who could benefit from an environment different from their traditional schools or who cannot stay at traditional schools because of behavioral issues. These schools often are designed as short-term interventions to get these students back on track to graduate.
Currently, the state does not have sufficient information to determine how well alternative schools are educating students. We recommend the state collect better performance data for alternative schools and then use this information to set performance expectations, monitor their progress toward meeting those expectations, and support underperforming schools.
(5/13/15: Correction made to Figure 1 regarding number of opportunity and juvenile court schools.)
Local Control Funding Formula Implementation
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March 19, 2015 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
Overview of Adult Education Programs
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March 11, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Education Committee, Assembly Higher Education Committee, and Senate Education Committee
Overview of the Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control and Accountability Plans
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March 10, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
Rethinking How the State Funds School Facilities
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March 10, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
Overview of Proposition 98 Budget Proposals
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March 5, 2015 - Presented to Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education Finance
Workforce Education And Training
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February 26, 2015 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
California K-12 Funding in Context
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February 24, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
Overview of Proposition 98 Budget Proposals
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February 24, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
The 2015-16 Budget: Proposition 98 Education Analysis
February 18, 2015 - The Governor's budget includes $7.8 billion in Proposition 98 funding increases for schools and community colleges, including $5 billion for programmatic increases and $2.8 billion for retiring outstanding obligations. In this report, we recommend the Legislature improve some of the Governor's specific Proposition 98 proposals and reject others. Most notably, though we recommend the Legislature adopt the Governor's proposal to provide $500 million for adult education consortia, we recommend making various programmatic improvements, folding some of the Governor's other proposed workforce funding into the adult education program, and rejecting a couple of the Governor's career technical education proposals. We also recommend rethinking the Governor's Internet infrastructure proposal. Additionally, we have various recommendations relating to the Local Control Funding Formula, county offices of education, and education mandates.
Funding for Major Internet-Related Programs Since 2000
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February 17, 2015 - Summarizes major state and federal funding for Internet-related programs.
The 2015-16 Budget: Rethinking How the State Funds School Facilities
February 17, 2015 - This report analyzes the state's system for financing school facilities and raises concerns with the existing system. We recommend the Legislature replace the state's current system for financing school facilities with a new system. Specifically, we recommend the Legislature: (1) establish an annualized "expected facility cost" based on the replacement cost of existing school buildings; (2) provide an annual per-student grant that reflects a specified minimum state share of cost; (3) adjust the grant for differences in local resources; (4) adjust the grant during the transition period for prior state investments in school facilities; (5) provide one-time funding to address the existing backlog of school facility projects; and (6) require grant recipients to adopt five-year facility accountability plans.
Implementation of LCFF and LCAPs
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January 21, 2015 - Presented to: Senate Education Committee
Analysis of School District Reserves
January 21, 2015 - Last year the state adopted legislation to (1) cap school district reserves following deposits in the state school reserve recently established by Proposition 2 and (2) require districts to disclose additional information about their reserves each year. This report analyzes how district reserve levels have changed over time and describes some of the key factors that cause reserve levels to vary from district to district. After assessing recent changes, this report recommends the Legislature repeal the reserve caps and modify the disclosure provision.