blog post Three Bills Signal State of Education Policy By Iwunze Ugo Nov 21, 2016 A review of the fates of three bills, the state budget, and recent administrative actions helps illustrate the current state of education policy in California.
Report California’s New School Funding Flexibility By Margaret Weston May 11, 2011 To ease the pain of deep budget cuts to K–12 education in 2009, school districts were allowed to use some restricted funds for general education. The new rules, which expire in 2015, helped, but created other problems. This paper offers specific recommendations for an overhaul of the restricted funding system, balancing the needs of certain groups of students against the fiscal flexibility that school districts now enjoy. This research was supported with funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Apr 27, 2022 More than four in ten parents say their children have fallen behind academically during the pandemic. While most Californians approve of the way Governor Newsom is handling public K–12 education, many believe its quality has declined over the past few years.
blog post A Long-term View of Higher Education Funding By Kevin Cook Aug 16, 2018 Public higher education is a major component of California's General Fund allocations, along with K–12 education, health and human services, and corrections. How has this spending changed over time?
blog post Video: School Resources and the Local Control Funding Formula By Mary Severance Aug 14, 2019 At an event in Sacramento, researcher Julien Lafortune and an expert panel discuss a new PPIC report on the impact of the K-12 school funding formula California put in place six years ago.
blog post Helping K–12 Students Recover from the Pandemic By Laura Hill, Niu Gao, Julien Lafortune Mar 10, 2022 Increased state and federal resources will play a key role as California helps students overcome learning disruptions of the past two years, though longer-term challenges remain.
blog post Funding Measures and the June Ballot By Patrick Murphy, Radhika Mehlotra, Jennifer Paluch Jun 11, 2018 In the June primary, Californians voted on a variety of measures ranging from parcel taxes to bridge tolls to cannabis taxes—and most of them passed.
Report Implementing Local Accountability in California’s Schools: The First Year of Planning By Paul Warren, Giselle Carrillo Mar 12, 2015 The passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013 gave California school districts flexibility in allocating resources and significantly boosted state support for the education of disadvantaged students. LCFF also includes a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which requires districts to enlist the help of parents and the public in identifying student performance goals and ways to achieve them. Our research in 25 California districts suggests that educators have worked hard to develop the first of these three-year plans, but that knowledge about strategic planning, data-driven decisionmaking, and involving parents and the public in the process varies significantly among districts. As a consequence, the clarity and effectiveness of the initial plans varies widely. The state can help by making technical assistance to districts and county offices of education available and affordable. Our research also indicates that expanding the role of county offices would help them push for improved student performance.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Jui Shrestha Apr 17, 2013 Some findings of the current survey: A strong majority of Californians favor Governor Brown’s K–12 funding proposal, which would direct extra money to lower-income and English Learner students. Most Californians believe that targeting funds in this way will improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students. An overwhelming majority also favor giving local school districts more flexibility over how state money is spent. Job Approval Ratings: Governor Brown [PDF] California State Legislature [PDF] Time Trends of Job Approval Ratings: Governor Brown [XLS] California State Legislature [XLS] This survey was supported with funding from The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, The Silver Giving Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation.
