February 23, 2022 - In his January budget, the Governor proposes $2 billion in one-time funding across three programs to increase college and career readiness among high school students. In this post, we provide background on the state’s programs, describe and assess the Governor’s proposals, and provide our recommendations to the Legislature.
October 24, 2022 - This post summarizes overall Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2022-23 budget package. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
February 12, 2021 - In this post, we provide background on school-based mental health services, describe the Governor’s proposals aimed at increasing such services, provide our assessments of the proposals, and offer associated recommendations.
June 19, 2015 - We have provided information on the major provisions of the budget plan passed by the Legislature on Friday, June 19. (It does not reflect potential gubernatorial vetoes.) We will provide a more comprehensive summary of the budget plan in our annual California Spending Plan later this summer.
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.
August 28, 2014 - The core responsibility of the California Department of Education (CDE) is to administer federal and state education programs. Our review found the department currently is adequately positioned to fulfill this core mission. We also found, however, that the scope of CDE’s responsibilities—and the associated need for staff and funding—change frequently based on shifting state and federal policies. In order to maintain the department's capacity to meet its responsibilities, we recommend the Legislature ensure that additional responsibilities placed on CDE in the future are paired with additional resources. Similarly, should the Legislature notably reduce CDE’s responsibilities, we recommend it make a conforming reduction to associated CDE positions and funding. We also believe CDE could find ways to make its existing services more valuable to districts and integrate state and federal accountability activities. Finally, we recommend that the Legislature repeal some CDE reporting requirements that provide limited value.
February 14, 2014 - This report analyzes the Governor's 2014-15 Proposition 98 budget proposals. The Governor’s 2014-15 budget includes $11.8 billion in Proposition 98 spending increases (attributable to 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15). Of that amount, the Governor dedicates $6.7 billion to paying off outstanding one-time obligations and $5.1 billion for ongoing programmatic increases. We believe the Governor's plan is a reasonable mix of one-time and ongoing spending--eliminating the largest outstanding one-time obligation and significantly increasing ongoing programmatic support for schools and community colleges. The Governor's Proposition 98 wall of debt plan also includes a reasonable multiyear approach to paying off all outstanding school and community college obligations one year before the expiration of Proposition 30 revenues. Our report also analyzes the Governor's specific proposals for career technical education, student assessments, and independent study programs. Though we think these proposals generally have merit, we offer various recommendations for refining them.
February 16, 2021 - This report analyzes the Governor’s major budget proposals for the community colleges, covering base apportionments, enrollment, students’ basic needs, online tools, apprenticeships and work-based learning, instructional materials, and faculty professional development.
February 21, 2020 - In this report, we provide an overview of the Governor’s early education proposals, then analyze his three major early education proposals. Specifically, we analyze his proposals to (1) expand the number of full‑day preschool slots, (2) create a new department to administer child care programs, and (3) fund facilities for more preschool programs.
March 4, 2019 - In this report, we provide an overview of the Governor’s early education proposals, then analyze his three major proposals in this area. Specifically, we analyze his proposals to (1) fund facilities for more full‑day kindergarten programs, (2) make targeted one‑time improvements to the child care and preschool system, and (3) expand the number of full‑day preschool slots. We then assess the administration’s cost estimates for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) child care programs. We end the report with a summary of our early education recommendations.
October 25, 2021 - This post summarizes overall Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2021-22 budget package. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
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.
March 26, 2019 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
February 23, 2022 - In this post, we provide background on teacher shortages and recruitment, describe the Governor’s proposals related to these issues, assess these proposals, and offer associated recommendations.