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 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 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 2023-24 Budget: Transitional Kindergarten and State Preschool Proposals

Feb 14, 2023 - However, 41  percent of school districts and charter schools report they do not intend to make updates to facilities. Governor’s Proposal Increases Funding by $690   Million to Implement TK Expansion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4682

The 2025-26 Budget: Educator Workforce

Mar 7, 2025 - In 2024, only 44  percent of California ’s fourth graders met or exceeded state standards in English language arts, and 41  percent met or exceeded state standards in math. California also has historically scored lower than the national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a set of national exams administered by the federal government every two years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5012

The 2022-23 Budget: School Nutrition

Feb 8, 2022 - For example, in 2019 ‑20, school districts that participated in the federal National School Lunch Program generally received $3.50  per free lunch, $3.10 per reduced ‑price lunch, and 41  cents per paid lunch.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4519

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 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

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

The 2022-23 Budget: Educator Workforce Proposals

Feb 23, 2022 - From the initial $10  million provided in 2016 ‑17, CTC awarded grants to 41 institutions. Many grantees began enrolling undergraduate students in their integrated programs in 2018 ‑19. By 2019 ‑20, a total of 629 undergraduate students were enrolled in an integrated program, and 72  individuals had obtained their undergraduate degree and teaching credential.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4556