Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Higher Education By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Lunna Lopes, Alyssa Dykman Nov 14, 2018 Key findings: Most Californians think public higher education should be a high priority for the next governor; many are ready for a change in policies. A majority see affordability as a big problem and are concerned about students at public colleges and universities taking on too much debt.More than half say the level of state funding for higher education is inadequate; many think a state spending guarantee for the California State University and University of California systems is a good idea.
Report Assessing Transitional Kindergarten’s Impact on Elementary School Trajectories By Julien Lafortune, Laura Hill Oct 23, 2023 California’s Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program provides an early year of schooling within the K–12 system. Launched a decade ago with limited eligibility, TK will soon be open to all four-year-olds. Taking stock of the program’s impact so far—especially among multilingual and special education students—can help TK expansion succeed.
Report Declining Enrollment in California Schools: Fiscal Challenges and Opportunities in the Coming Decade By Paul Warren, Julien Lafortune Feb 12, 2020 Statewide K–12 enrollment is projected to fall 7% over the next 10 years. Districts with declining enrollment face fiscal pressures, as state funding is tied to the number of students they serve. Enrollment declines also have important implications for the state budget.
Report Achievement in California’s Public Schools: What Do Test Scores Tell Us? By Paul Warren, Julien Lafortune Jul 10, 2019 California’s student test scores show significant progress in English—but they also show stalled gains in math and persistent income achievement gaps. State actions to improve math instruction and support struggling districts could help boost student performance.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Education By Mark Baldassare Apr 28, 2005 Some findings of the current survey The vast majority of Californians (82%) believe that the quality of education in the state’s K-12 public schools is at least somewhat of a problem. 59% of public school parents say that their local public schools do not receive enough state funding. Most Californians are more likely to say that private schools (60%) rather than public schools (24%) provide the best education. 78% of Californians say parents who fail to pay attention to how their children are doing is a big problem in K-12 public education. Parental hopes for their children’s future education are stunning. Nine in 10 aspire to college graduation for their children, and 41 percent hope that their children will earn a postgraduate degree. This special edition of the PPIC Statewide Survey—a survey on education—is the first in a three-year PPIC survey series made possible with funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The intent of this special series is to inform state, local, and federal policymakers; encourage discussion; and raise public awareness about a variety of education, environment, and population issues facing the state.
Report Higher Education in California: Strengthening Career Education By Sarah Bohn, Shannon McConville Oct 1, 2019 About 30 percent of California’s future jobs will require some training beyond high school but less than a four-year college degree. Career education prepares students for these “middle-skill” jobs by providing occupation- and industry-specific training.
Report Modernizing California’s Education Data System By Jacob Jackson, Kevin Cook Nov 28, 2018 Unlike most other states, California lacks a data system that can follow students from K–12 schools to college and into the workforce. Linking data across sectors would help policymakers and educational leaders promote student success and institutional effectiveness.
Occasional Paper, Report Funding Formulas for California Schools II: An Analysis of a Proposal by the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence By Jon Sonstelie, Ray Reinhard, Heather Rose, Ria Sengupta Bhatt Jul 8, 2008 In this paper, the researchers examine a finance system proposed by the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence which would consolidate a large number of current K-12 revenue programs into two programs: a base program serving the needs of all students, and a targeted program providing supplemental funds for disadvantaged students. This new approach would call for two fundamental changes in current policy: first, the state would have to transfer its revenue authority to local school districts; and second, the state would have to allocate a larger share of K-12 revenues to districts with high proportions of disadvantaged students. Governor's Committee on Education Excellence: Simulation Results (279KB, Excel)
Report Funding California Schools When Budgets Fall Short By Julien Lafortune, Radhika Mehlotra, Jennifer Paluch Oct 5, 2020 Even as districts prioritize safety amid COVID-19, they face hard choices as they try to maintain services and balance budgets. By examining district reserves and spending, this report aims to understand how the Great Recession affected K–12 funding and how prepared districts are now to manage future cuts.
Report Examining the Reach of Targeted School Funding By Julien Lafortune, Joseph Herrera, Niu Gao Sep 6, 2023 Under California’s ten-year-old funding formula, districts with higher shares of high-need students receive additional dollars on top of base funding. Districts have flexibility around spending these funds, but when money is not fully directed to the intended students and schools, the impact on achievement gaps is diluted.
