The 2024-25 Budget: The Governor’s Proposition 98 Funding Maneuver

Feb 15, 2024 - We estimate the administration addressed a $58  billion budget problem in the Governor ’s budget. Despite this significant deficit, there is a good chance that the administration ’s revenue projections are too low and the state will face an even larger budget problem in May.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4840

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

The 2022-23 Budget: Update on K-12 Student Attendance

May 11, 2022 - As Figure  4 shows, 55 of the 58 counties in California have experienced ADA declines during the pandemic. Of these 55  counties, 36 experienced two ‑year declines between 5  percent and 10  percent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4595

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

The 2026-27 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 19, 2025 - Figure  8  shows how much the minimum guarantee could differ from our projections based on variations in General Fund revenue. For this analysis, we examined the historical relationship between previous revenue estimates and actual tax collections, then calculated the guarantee under the different revenue scenarios.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - A  2018   report  by the State Coastal Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy found that 55 percent of California’s existing coastal habitats are highly vulnerable to five feet of sea‑level rise, including 60 percent of the state’s iconic beaches and 58 percent of its marshes. 
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

The 2025-26 Budget: Expanded Learning Opportunities Program

Feb 20, 2025 - As  part of this option, if  serving additional students in expanded learning programs was a priority, the Legislature could allow districts to retain at least a portion of their funding if they agreed to use their ASES funding for students in grades 7 and  8.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4977

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposition 98 and K-12 Education

Feb 15, 2024 - For example, in 2023 ‑24,districts that chose to be reimbursed through the block grant received $37.81 for each K ‑8 student and $72.84 for each high school student. The per ‑student rate is adjusted every year by the K ‑12 COLA.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4839