The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - While enrollment has increased since 2020, it remains significantly below pre‑pandemic levels. In October 2024, State Preschool enrollment was roughly 40,000 students lower than October 2019 enrollment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

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

Feb 4, 2026 - The Governor ’s budget estimates that the 2025 ‑26 guarantee has increased to $121.5  billion but provides only $115.9  billion for schools and community colleges (slightly above the June 2025 enacted budget level).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - Assess Funding Level for Technical Assistance Centers. The Legislature may want to assess whether the proposed funding level for technical assistance is sufficient given the increased number of schools that will be supported on an ongoing basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

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

Mar 18, 2026 - The Governor ’s budget, however, does not propose any specific fiscal changes to implement the proposal or identify the new funding levels for CDE, SBE, and the Office of the SPI. New Role for the SPI Is Not Clearly Defined.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - These performance levels are based on a combination of overall status and change in performance over the past year. In 2025, 108 (out of over 900) school districts were assigned the lowest performance level in chronic absenteeism for their total student population, while another 388 school districts were assigned the lowest performance level for at least one subgroup.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

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

Nov 10, 2025 - Additionally, trailer legislation requires the administration of the program and remaining unspent funds t o be transferred from CDE to CTC on July 1, 2027. Expands the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5087

The 2026-27 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges [Publication Details]

Nov 19, 2025 - For 2026-27, we estimate the guarantee is $117.8 billion, an increase of $3.2 billion (2.8 percent) from the previously enacted level. This growth—combined with a required reserve withdrawal—would be just enough to fund a 2.51 percent statutory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5093

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

Nov 19, 2025 - Our estimate of SCFF costs for 2025 ‑26 is tracking about $90  million higher than the June estimate, and this higher spending level continues into 2026 ‑27. School district costs, by contrast, are tracking slightly below the June estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

Follow-up Evaluation of the District of Choice Program

Feb 1, 2021 - Asian Students Participate at the Highest Levels Relative to Their Share of Home District Enrollment. After analyzing trends in overall participation, we examined relative participation levels for the three largest groups of students using the program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4329

Review of the Funding Determination Process for Nonclassroom-Based Charter Schools

Feb 29, 2024 - Chapter  892 of 2001 (S B  740 , O ’Connell) required the State Board of Education (SBE) to establish a system for determining the appropriate funding level for  nonclassroom ‑based  charter schools that, at a minimum, considers the percentage of total expenditures for certificated staff salaries and benefits and the school ’s student ‑to ‑teacher ratio.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4870