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 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: 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 2026-27 Budget: Computer Science Supplementary Authorization

Mar 6, 2026 - The current deadline for CTC to commit these funds is June 30, 2026. Any uncommitted funds would revert to the state. Governor ’s Proposal Governor ’s Budget Extends Encumbrance Deadline, Increases Grant Size, and Reduces Match Requirement.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5153

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - Requirements for New Grantees Begin in 2029 ‑30. LEAs receiving funding would be required to annually report and publicly present their community school plans. For new community schools grantees, the administration indicates annual reporting requirements would begin in 2029 ‑30, when they will be required to submit an implementation plan by December 31, 2029.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - For example, the 2025‑26 budget provided $30 million to support the transition to paying providers prospectively. (Currently, the state pays providers after they have submitted timesheets demonstrating they have provided care.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Proposition 98 and K-12 Education

Nov 10, 2025 - This round of funds is available to for CTC to allocate until June 30, 2030. Additionally, the budget extends the deadline for allocating residency grant funds appropriated in the 2022-23 budget package from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5087

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

Nov 19, 2025 - Specifically, our estimate of the statutory rate is 3.7  percent in 2027 ‑28, 4  percent in 2027 ‑28, and 4.2  percent in 2029 ‑30. These estimates are above the historical average of about 3  percent per year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - Our  November 2025 fiscal outlook, however, projects Test 1 will likely remain operative through the end of our forecast in 2029 ‑30. This projection is mainly related to declines in births and reductions in the school ‑age population —trends that are unlikely to reverse  quickly or change in response to enrollment ‑based funding.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Proposition 98

Oct 24, 2022 - For COEs that are funded a bove their LCFF targets (33 of 58 COEs in 2021-22), the budget package establishes an ongoing add-on equal to the annual statutory COLA that COEs funded at their target receive.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4641