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

Mar 18, 2026 - A Few Core Principles Could Guide Changes to the SPI ’s Role. The Governor ’s proposal is an opportunity for the Legislature to consider many changes to the SPI ’s role and duties. The previous governance studies and the state ’s experience with its current governance structure contain several lessons that could guide a redesign of the position.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Computer Science Supplementary Authorization

Mar 6, 2026 - Governor ’s Proposal Governor ’s Budget Extends Encumbrance Deadline, Increases Grant Size, and Reduces Match Requirement. The Governor ’s budget proposes to extend the encumbrance deadline for the program to June 30, 2030 and increase the maximum grant size to $6,000 per teacher.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5153

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - The Governor ’s proposal uses clear objective criteria to determine eligibility (a school ’s EL/LI percentage). However, the Governor ’s proposal allows recipients of one ‑time community schools funding to be eligible for ongoing funding, even if they do not meet the other eligibility criteria.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

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

Feb 4, 2026 - The rest of this section analyzes how the Governo r ’s proposal affects these three challenges. The State ’s Short ‑Term Forecasting Risk Is Considerable. The state ’s reliance on tax revenue associated with the stock market poses an acute risk to its revenue forecast.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool Summary In this brief, we analyze the Governor ’s child care and State Preschool budget proposals and provide associated recommendations. Below, we provide a summary of our major recommendations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - As part of the state ’s accountability system, districts report various student outcomes, referred to as statewide indicators, which are then displayed on a public website known as the school dashboard.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100