The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance

Mar 18, 2026 - Introduction California operates the nation ’s largest public school system, comprising 937 school districts, 1,257 charter schools, and 58 county offices of education. This year, these local agencies will educate nearly 5.8  million students, employ around 700,000 teachers and staff, and spend nearly $150  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2022-23 Budget: Update on K-12 Student Attendance

May 11, 2022 - As Figure  4 shows, 55 of the 58 counties in California have experienced ADA declines during the pandemic. Of these 55  counties, 36 experienced two ‑year declines between 5  percent and 10  percent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4595

The 2019-20 Budget: California Spending Plan—Education

Oct 17, 2019 - Of this amount, $4.7  billion (58  percent) is state General Fund, $3.3  billion (41  percent) comes from student tuition and fee revenue, and $64  million (0.8  percent) is other state funding (primarily lottery revenue).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4096

K-12 Education in Context

Jan 26, 2018 - In 2016 ‑17, 58  percent of California ’s public school students were eligible to receive a free or reduced price school meal under a large federal nutrition program. States frequently use this eligibility measure as an indicator of a student coming from a low-income family.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3736

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: State’s Future Responsibility for CalSTRS Uncertain

Feb 2, 2016 - Because theoretical assets that determine the state’s share of the unfunded liability fluctuate more than real world assets and because the state’s share of the unfunded liability ($15 billion) is much smaller than the district share ($58 billion), the state share will be relatively sensitive to changes in assets.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3336

Proposition 49—Recommend Repeal [Publication Details]

Feb 24, 2005 - Proposition 49—Recommend Repeal [Publication Details] HTML Description: We recommend the Legislature enact legislation placing before the voters a repeal of Proposition 49 because (1) it triggers an autopilot augmentation even though the state is facing a structural budget gap of billions of dollars, (2) the additional spending on after school programs is a lower
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/1280

EdBudget Tables (January 2017)

Jan 13, 2017 - Federal funding, $39,000 ongoing and $49,000 one time. 49 Recommend Approval.  Helps CDE to implement recent legislation. Total Child Care and Preschool Budget (Dollars in Millions) Care for Children With Severe Disabilities 2 Infant and Toddler QRIS Grant (one-time) 24 61 16 a Reflects Department of Social Services ’ revised Stage 1 estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3529

The 2024-25 Budget: The Governor’s Proposition 98 Funding Maneuver

Feb 15, 2024 - We estimate the administration addressed a $58  billion budget problem in the Governor ’s budget. Despite this significant deficit, there is a good chance that the administration ’s revenue projections are too low and the state will face an even larger budget problem in May.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4840

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: Conclusion

Feb 2, 2016 - Meanwhile, that calculation, coupled with CalSTRS ’ treatment of the higher teacher contributions required by the funding law, have increased the school and community college district share from $47 billion to $58 billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3339

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - In 2002, voters approved Proposition  49, which requires the state to provide at least $550  million annually to the ASES program. The 21st Century program is primarily federally funded. In 2021 ‑22, the state created the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) with plans to ramp up funding through 2025 ‑26.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131