Analyzing Recent Changes to State Support for Fiscally Distressed Districts

Dec 20, 2018 - The state ’s historical process for overseeing district budgets —giving local boards early warning signs of fiscal problems and having COEs help local boards make fiscal corrections —has worked to date to keep the vast majority of districts on positive fiscal footing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3914

The 2020-21 Budget: Governor’s Fiscal Oversight Proposals

Mar 19, 2020 - Based on our conversations with FCMAT, COEs would use a fiscal health risk analysis tool similar to one already developed by FCMAT. This tool, which FCMAT has posted on its website, includes more detailed questions, assigns different weig hts to particular questions, and distinguishes between moderate and high risk.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4204

The 2022-23 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 17, 2021 - For this analysis, we assumed that instead of growing throughout the period, General Fund revenues would experience a year ‑over ‑year decline of $20 billion (10 percent) in 2023 ‑24, then grow slowly over the following two years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4473

Update on School District Budgets

Nov 16, 2020 - The adopted budgets and interim reports must include revenue and expenditure estimates for the current year and two subsequent fiscal years. General Fund Reserves Are a Key Measure of Fiscal Health. In California, General Fund reserves are a key component of the state ’s system for overseeing school districts ’ fiscal condition.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4301

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

Mar 18, 2026 - Moreover, the Governor ’s proposal likely presents opportunities for efficiencies, such as eliminating the need for two  separate teams dedicated to government affairs and policy analysis at CDE and the SBE.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Computer Science Supplementary Authorization

Mar 6, 2026 - However, based on our analysis, the $5,000 teachers receive under the current grants —$2,500 from the state and $2,500 from the district match —are sufficient to cover the costs of obtaining an authorization.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5153

The 2020-21 Budget: School District Budget Trends

Jan 21, 2020 - In this report, we examine school districts’ key cost drivers and fiscal health. As part of our analysis, we look back at school districts’ actual experiences to date and look ahead at what districts’ experiences could be over the next few years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4136

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Mandates

May 1, 2026 - State law further requires our office to analyze any new mandates identified by the Commission as a part of our annual analysis of the state budget. In particular, state law directs our office to report on the annual state costs for new mandates and make recommendations to the Legislature as to whether the new mandates should be repealed, funded, suspended, or modified.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5179

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - We recommend requiring unallocated funding from community schools grants to revert back to the state at the end of each fiscal year. We also recommend reverting the $485  million currently set aside for extension grants.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

The 2026-27 Budget: Update on Local Control Funding Formula Costs

May 1, 2026 - Fiscal Implications Preliminary 2025-26 LCFF Costs Are $2  Billion Below Governor ’s Budget Estimates. As Figure  5 shows, the recent data from CDE shows LCFF costs $2  billion lower than the Governor ’s January budget estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5178