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

Mar 18, 2026 - Considering Adding Legislative Appointees to the SBE. The Legislature could consider adding two legislative appointees to the SBE. These appointees could enable greater legislative oversight of the new governance system and ensure the SBE ’s policies are consistent with legislative intent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 4, 2026 - The proposal effectively shifts that cost from this year to future budgets —helping address the current budget problem on a one ‑time basis, but adding to the large budget deficits the state is projecting over the next several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - As a result of the pandemic, State Preschool enrollment experienced a significant decline of roughly 65,000 students in 2020 (Figure 3). While enrollment has increased since 2020, it remains significantly below pre‑pandemic levels.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding Share of Increase Coming From Base 80% — 36% Alternatives 2 and 3 Provide More Targeted Funding to Support High ‑Needs Students. As Figure   18 shows, compared to enrollment ‑based funding and alternative 1, alternatives 2  and  3 provide more of the funding increases through grants targeted for English learners, low ‑income students, and foster youth.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Proposition 98 and K-12 Education

Nov 10, 2025 - The grant size is based on a school ’s TK-3 enrollment, with a minimum grant of $450,000. The remaining $15  million will be awarded to a COE to provide training to literacy coaches throughout the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5087

The 2025‑26 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 20, 2024 - Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs over the past 18 months. Similarly, the number of Californians who are unemployed is 25  percent higher than during the strong labor markets of 2019 and 2022.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4940

The 2025-26 Budget: California State University

Feb 25, 2025 - Though the number of students shifted from self‑ to state‑supported courses is smaller in 2024‑25 compared to 2023‑24 (745 FTE students shifted in summer 2024 compared to 4,705 FTE students shifted the previous summer), the effect is still not adding new students but adding new state costs from shifting students formerly in self‑supported courses into state‑supported ones.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4989

The 2025-26 Budget: Transitional Kindergarten Multilingual Learner Screeners

Feb 26, 2025 - The proposal specifies that the screener must be (1)  developmentally appropriate for TK students; (2)  deemed adequate by technical experts; (3)  capable of administration by classroom teachers or aides to students; and (4)  capable of administration to any student, regardless of their primary language.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4990

The 2025-26 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 13, 2025 - New Requirements Added in 2024 ‑25 Following a Legal Settlement. In late 2020, the families of several students living in Oakland and Los Angeles filed a lawsuit alleging the state had failed to ensure that schools provided adequate instruction during the pandemic ( Cayla  J.  
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4963

The 2026-27 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 19, 2025 - These estimates are above the historical average of about 3  percent per year. The cost of covering the COLA in these years would be $3.9  billion, $4.3  billion, and $4.7  billion, respectively. These projections should be interpreted with caution, as the final rates often differ significantly from the initial estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093