The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - Child Care and State Preschool Reimbursement Rates in Transition. The state has historically used two different reimbursement rates for child care providers —the Standard Reimbursement Rate (SRR) and the Regional Market Rate (RMR).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Developmental Services [Publication Details]

Mar 5, 2025 - This brief provides a short summary of the Governor’s proposed budget for the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) before addressing four issues that warrant legislative oversight: (1) quality incentives as part of service provider rate reform, (2) the Master Plan for Developmental Services, (3) DDS’s ongoing information technology project, and (4) the phaseout of subminimum wage employment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5008

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 5, 2025 - Service Provider Rates Must Include Quality Incentive Structure. Beginning January 1, 2025, statute requires that provider rates consist of two components: (1)  a base rate equal to 90   percent of the rate model, and (2)  a quality incentive payment equal to 10   percent of the rate model.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5008

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - Figure 6 ELOP Funding Tiers and Rates Over Time Tier 1 EL/LI Threshold Tier 1 Rate Per EL/LI Student Tier 2 Rate Per EL/LI Student 2021 ‑22
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - The dashboard currently uses chronic absenteeism rates as an indicator of student engagement for grades TK ‑8, while the four ‑year graduation rate is used for high schools. Based on conversations with the State Board of Education, our understanding is that the state excluded high school absenteeism rates as part of its negotiations with the federal government to ensure compliance with federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

The 2025-26 Budget: California State University

Feb 25, 2025 - Whether a campus meets its enrollment target depends on several key factors, including the number of students who apply, admission rates, yield rates, retention rates, and other aspects of student and campus behavior.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4989

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

Mar 18, 2026 - Considering Adding Legislative Appointees to the SBE. The Legislature could consider adding two legislative appointees to the SBE. These appointees could enable greater legislative oversight of the new governance system and ensure the SBE ’s policies are consistent with legislative intent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

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

Nov 19, 2025 - Assuming the COLA rate remains at 2.51  percent, the associated cost would be $2.5  billion. Somewhat Higher COLA Rates Projected After 2026 ‑27. Under our forecast, the COLA rate would increase after 2026 ‑27.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

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

Feb 4, 2026 - The proposal effectively shifts that cost from this year to future budgets —helping address the current budget problem on a one ‑time basis, but adding to the large budget deficits the state is projecting over the next several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2025-26 Budget: Transitional Kindergarten Multilingual Learner Screeners

Feb 26, 2025 - Statewide data also showed that TK students were being identified as English learners at higher rates than kindergarteners. Chapter  15 did not make any changes to the requirements for identifying and assessing English learners in kindergarten through grade 12.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4990