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: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - On January 8, 2026, California and the other states sued to prevent the freeze. A federal court initially granted a temporary restraining order that was followed by a preliminary injunction, ordering that funds continue to be available pending resolution of  the case.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - Although the state collects and publishes chronic absenteeism data for all students, the chronic absenteeism rates reported on the dashboard only include data for students in grades TK  through  8. Dashboard Assigns Performance Levels for Statewide Indicators.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

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

Feb 4, 2026 - A revenue decline of this magnitude would reduce the Proposition  98 guarantee by about $8  billion. In such a scenario, the state could likely maintain existing programs, but would have to reject many of the Governor ’s proposals.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110