The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - The state also used roughly $2.3  billion in federal funding to partially cover program costs. In addition, the state partially covered program costs with $195  million from the Proposition  64 Youth Account, which is funded by the cannabis retail excise tax established in 2016.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

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 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - From 2022 ‑23 through 2024 ‑25, the state appropriation remained at $4  billion annually, while the Tier 1 rate and overall Tier 1 TK ‑6 attendance increased. As a result, funding available for Tier 2 rates decreased.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

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

Feb 4, 2026 - Most notably, this law was part of the rationale for the complicated funding maneuver the state adopted to address the unexpected drop in the 2022 ‑23 guarantee. It also prompted a complex law that excludes certain school spending from Proposition  98 calculations when the state overestimates the guarantee due to tax ‑filing extensions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110