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Higher Education Student Fees

February 19, 2003 - The Governor's budget assumes student fees will increase for the average full-time undergraduate student by $1,065 at UC, $468 at CSU, and $338 at CCC in 2003-04. We recommend increases that are about 40 percent smaller at UC and CSU. We also recommend the Legislature adopt an explicit fee policy requiring annual adjustments that are gradual and predictable.


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LAO Alternative Higher Education Budget Proposal

February 19, 2003 - The Governor proposes a 9.8% General Fund saving in higher education. We outline the main features of an alternative that accomplishes this for the University of California, the California State University, and the Student Aid Commission.


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Child Care and Development

February 19, 2003 - The Governor's proposal to shift responsibility for most child care programs from the state to counties deserves legislative consideration. This realignment would give counties the flexibility to use child care funds as part of an integrated county strategy to serve low-income families.


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Special Education

February 19, 2003 - We recommend the State Department of Education report at budget hearings on the likelihood that the federal Department of Education would grant California a waiver of the special education maintenance of effort requirements for 2003-04.


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Instructional Materials

February 19, 2003 - We recommend that the Legislature enact legislation to allow materials adopted in the interim adoptions required under Chapter 481, Statutes of 1998 (AB 2519, Poochigian), to be recognized as standards-aligned materials for the purposes of eligibility for categorical programs.


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Accountability

February 19, 2003 - We recommend that the Legislature take steps to integrate state and federal sanction and intervention programs to send a clear message of expectations to schools and districts. We recommend that state interventions be focused at the school district level and that the state intervene directly at only the lowest-performing schools.


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Assessments

February 19, 2003 - We identify several areas where the Legislature could reduce the assessment burden on school districts while maintaining the state's emphasis on academic content and performance standards: the NRT portion of the STAR program, the primary language test, the Golden State Exams, and the physical fitness test.


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Class Size Reduction

February 19, 2003 - We review recent research on class size reduction (CSR) which uncovered three major findings: (1) the effect of CSR on student achievement is inconclusive; (2) California's CSR program contributed to a decline in teacher quality; and (3) California's CSR program generated inequitable distribution of fully qualified teachers.


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Basic Aid Districts

February 19, 2003 - We recommend the Legislature approve the Governor's proposal to reduce basic aid payments by $15.3 million in 2002-03 and eliminate them entirely in 2003-04 for a savings of $17.8 million.


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Revenue Limits and Discretionary Funds

February 19, 2003 - We recommend that the Legislature (1) not fund revenue limit equalization as proposed by the Governor ($250 million), and (2) delay revenue limit equalization until a year when Proposition 98 can fund growth, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and pay off any remaining deferrals.


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Proposition 98 Mandates

February 19, 2003 - We recommend that the Legislature increase funding for Proposition 98 mandates by $100 million and include $199 million for school district mandates in our proposed Core Services Block Grant.


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Governor's Categorical Program Reform Proposal

February 19, 2003 - We recommend the Legislature consolidate 62 programs into five block grants. Districts would report to the state key fiscal and outcome data on each grant.


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K-12 Education Introduction

February 19, 2003 - A discussion of budgetary and enrollment trends in the K-12 Education area.


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Proposition 98 Budget-Year Priorities

February 19, 2003 - The Governor's budget offers a reasonable set of solutions for addressing the 2003-04 budget situation. We highlight a number of areas, however, that are worthy of careful consideration and deliberation.


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2002-03 Mid-Year Revisions: Proposition 98

February 19, 2003 - Responding to Governor's mid-year budget proposal, the Legislature provided Proposition 98 funding $289 million higher than proposed by the Governor.