blog post California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System Hits Major Milestone By Iwunze Ugo Apr 2, 2024 The California Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System is an ambitious effort to strengthen the education pipeline by linking educational, social services, and workforce data from a range of state agencies. The C2C system recently received its first annual submission—more than a billion data points—from partnering agencies.
blog post Video: Do Registration Reforms Add New Voters or Keep Californians Registered? By Stephanie Barton Mar 22, 2024 PPIC policy director and senior fellow Eric McGhee discusses new research on whether changes to certain voter registration processes in California have increased registration, made the electorate more representative of the state’s population, and helped keep California's voter file current.
blog post What’s Worse Than a Flood? A Debris Flow By Sarah Bardeen Mar 18, 2024 Move over, floods—there’s a new natural disaster in town: debris flows. We know that debris flows can be even more destructive than floods, but what are they and why do they happen? We speak with expert Jimmy Guilinger to learn more.
blog post Testimony: California’s K–12 Digital Divide Has Narrowed, but Access Gaps Persist By Niu Gao Feb 21, 2024 At an Assembly Education Committee hearing on addressing students’ post-pandemic needs, PPIC senior fellow Niu Gao discussed the role that federal, state, and local efforts have played in increasing digital connectivity and outlined key challenges that remain.
blog post What to Watch for in Higher Education in 2024 By Olga Rodriguez, Kevin Cook Jan 29, 2024 With policymakers facing a sizeable state budget deficit, we highlight higher education issues to watch this year, including key opportunities and areas of concern.
blog post What’s in Store for California’s Economy? By Sarah Bohn Jan 10, 2024 California starts the year with low unemployment, rising wages, and falling inflation—but also with residents expressing pessimism about the state's economic outlook. We look at what's ahead for the California economy.
blog post Video: A Conversation with California’s Public Higher Education Leaders By Vicki Hsieh Dec 8, 2023 PPIC president and CEO Tani Cantil-Sakauye talks with leaders from across the state's higher education systems—UC president Michael V. Drake, CSU chancellor Mildred García, and California Community Colleges executive vice chancellor Aisha Lowe—about their priorities for expanding educational opportunity.
blog post How Have California School Districts Used the Emergency Connectivity Fund? By Joseph Hayes, Niu Gao Dec 4, 2023 The state's school districts have received about $859 million from the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which supports access to internet connectivity and digital devices. Most of these funds have gone to districts with large proportions of Black, Latino, or low-income students, and the ECF dollars have been used more for connectivity than for devices.
blog post Commentary: On California Funding Formula’s 10th Anniversary, Celebrate Progress but Double Down on Fairness By Julien Lafortune, Bruce Fuller Dec 1, 2023 Enacted in 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula shifted state K–12 dollars to increase support for districts serving greater shares of low-income students and English Learners. We look at advances in student performance under this funding approach—and where further work is needed.
blog post Most Californians Say Racial Bias Is Linked to Economic Inequality By Lauren Mora Nov 30, 2023 A strong majority of Californians say that racial and ethnic discrimination contributes to economic inequality, and those holding this view are more likely to support policies that help lower-income families.
