The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool [Publication Details]

Mar 19, 2026 - In this brief, we assess the Governor’s 2026-27 proposals for child care and State Preschool and provide associated recommendations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5168

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - In 2023 ‑24, the state redirected funding associated with the statutory COLA for all programs to cover costs of the monthly cost of care plus payments. In 2025 ‑26, the state used the estimated cost of the statutory COLA to provide a uniform increase in monthly cost of care plus payments to all providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

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

Feb 4, 2026 - A third option is to provide additional funding for district pension costs. The state could structure this payment to reduce pension costs over time or to provide short‑term relief if costs rise above a specified threshold.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

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

Mar 18, 2026 - The Proposal Could Be Cost Neutral, but Fiscal Details Are Missing. Recent state governance changes in other program areas have led to additional ongoing costs ranging from the low millions to tens of millions of dollars per year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - The proposal also does not specify how costs for accreditation would be covered. Without such detail, it is not possible to determine whether this would be an effective approach for ensuring accountability or whether the funding available is sufficie nt to cover the associated costs. $1   Billion Is More Than Necessary Initially, but May Not Be Sufficient Over Long Term.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131