March 2, 2017 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
February 28, 2017 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
May 14, 2020 - In this post, we discuss actions the federal and state governments have taken to assist K-12 schools and child care providers in responding to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
April 29, 2021 - Since March 2020, the federal government has passed three relief packages that assist K-12 schools and child care providers in their response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This post provides a brief summary of how the three federal relief packages affect K-12 education and child care and describes how the state has used these federal funds, as of April 2021.
January 13, 2017 - At key times during the state's budget cycle, we post tables containing important information about the education parts of the budget. This initial January posting reflects the 2017-18 Governor's Budget proposals. The tables cover Proposition 98, K-12 education, child care and preschool, higher education, and student financial aid. We will publish additional tables as we have them available.
March 18, 2009 - Presented at a Joint Hearing of the Assembly Education Committee and Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
March 26, 2009 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
September 16, 2024 - This post summarizes Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2024-25 budget package.
November 6, 2019 - Recent legislation directed the Legislature and administration to work collaboratively to consider changes in how the state organizes, delivers, and funds special education, with the overarching intent to improve outcomes. With this report, we aim to inform these fiscal and policy conversations by providing an overview of special education in California.
Update 11/8/19: Adjustments made to per-student education costs
January 29, 2021 - In this post, we provide background on school closures and recent funding to address learning loss, describe the Governor’s proposal to allocate $4.6 billion to schools in spring 2021 to address student learning loss caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, assess the proposal, and describe our recommendations to the Legislature.
May 4, 2010 -
We surveyed public school districts in California to see how they are responding to various state and federal developments. In particular, the survey asked districts to report how they were responding to the newly granted flexibility to shift funds among, as well as away from, approximately 40 state-funded categorical programs. The survey also asked districts to report how they were using federal stimulus funding.
We found that categorical flexibility is having a positive impact on local decision making and that the majority of districts generally appear to be using freed-up categorical funds to support core classroom instruction.
Also, roughly two-thirds of the federal stimulus funds were used to minimize teacher layoffs and the remainder
used to backfill reductions to categorical programs and make various one-time purchases.
Finally, we lay out a package of recommendations that the Legislature could adopt in 2010-11 to provide school districts with additional flexibility.
(Short video introducing this report)
October 19, 2015 - Each year, the Legislative Analyst's Office publishes its Spending Plan publication to summarize the state's annual budget. Passed in June 2015, with various amendments later during the year's legislative session, the state's 2015-16 spending plan includes a large increase in funding for schools and community colleges. The budget makes augmentations to child care and preschool, higher education, and various health and human services programs. The plan also creates a new state earned income tax credit to increase the after-tax income of low-income workers.
July 14, 2016 - EdBudget Tables (July 2016)
January 6, 2009 - California’s economically disadvantaged (ED) students are failing to meet federal and state academic standards and generally perform below their non-economically disadvantaged peers. This trend appears in all grade levels, with nearly two-thirds of second grade ED students and nearly three-fourths of eighth grade ED students performing at low levels. Given these shortcomings, we believe the state needs to be both more strategic and more flexible in its approach to supporting ED students. Specifically, we recommend: redefining the conversation to focus on the barriers impeding academic success; simplifying the system for all involved; refining funding formulas to reflect the pervasiveness and severity of students’ academic challenges; strengthening overall accountability by measuring year-to-year growth in student achievement; and, identifying and facilitating the sharing of best practices.
June 1, 1987 - This report contains our findings and recommendations regarding the Native American Indian Early Childhood Education program pursuant to the "sunset" review procedures enacted by Chapter 1270, Statutes of 1983 (Senate Bill 1155). The program was established to improve the educational accomplishments of rural Native American Indian students in pre-kindergarten through grade 4.
January 26, 2018 - In this post, we answer many questions legislators and others commonly ask about K-12 education in California. We begin by providing information on the main components of California’s public school system. We then review the state’s K-12 accountability system. Lastly, we explain the basics of school finance in California.