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: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 19, 2025 - Most  notably, it withdrew $9.5  billion from the Proposition  98 Reserve. The state also had a $3.5  billion “cushion ” because it did not spend all of the previous increases in the guarantee on ongoing programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

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

The 2022-23 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 17, 2021 - For the upcoming budget cycle, the Legislature has nearly $20 billion to allocate for new commitments, including $10.2  billion in one ‑time funds related to 2020 ‑21 and 2021 ‑22 and $9.5 billion in ongoing funds related to 2022 ‑23.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4473

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 2022-23 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor's May Revision

May 16, 2022 - Proposition   98 Reserve Reaches $9.5   Billion. In addition, the Proposition  98 Reserve, which is dedicated to school and community college spending, would reach $9.5  billion under the Governor ’s May Revision.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4598

The 2023-24 Budget: State and Federal One-Time K-12 Funding

Mar 10, 2023 - This reflects roughly $1.4  billion available from ESSER II (available until September 2023) and $9.5  billion from ESSER III (available until September 2024). Based on expenditure reports that cover spending through September 30, 2022, roughly $1.2  billion (57  percent) of federal funding for the ELOG remains unspent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4734

The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Proposition 98

Oct 24, 2022 - Under the adopted budget plan, the state deposits a total of $9.5  billion into this account across the 2020-21 through 2022-23 period —an increase of $4.5  billion compared with the estimates made in June 2021.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4641

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

Feb 15, 2024 - In this report, we assess the architecture of the Governor’s overall Proposition 98 budget and analyze his major proposals for K-12 education.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4839