interactive Reducing Child Poverty in California Nov 14, 2017 This interactive tool allows you to explore how changes to housing costs, minimum wage, and the social safety net could affect child poverty statewide and in your county.
blog post Testimony: Cybersecurity Needs and Higher Education By Hans Johnson Oct 10, 2017 California can best serve the growing number of students who want to pursue technology jobs by taking advantage of the strengths of each segment of its public higher education system.
Report Planning for California’s Growing Senior Population By Hans Johnson, Laurel Beck Aug 6, 2015 California’s senior population is entering a period of rapid growth. By 2030, as the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age, the over-65 population will grow by four million people. It will also become much more racially and ethnically diverse, with the fastest growth among Latinos and Asians. Many more seniors are likely to be single and/or childless—suggesting an increased number of people living alone. All of these changes will have a significant impact on senior support services. We project that by 2030 slightly more than one million seniors will require some assistance with self-care, and that the demand for nursing home care will begin to increase after decades of decline. These changes will have direct budget implications for the Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) programs, both of which pay for care and services for low-income seniors. The state will need additional resources, including nursing care facilities and health care professionals, especially those who provide home- and community-based services. California’s community college system will be critical in training workers to meet the state’s health care workforce needs for the growing and changing senior population.
blog post More Money, More Challenges for K-12 Schools By Paul Warren Jun 18, 2015 The 2015-16 budget agreement between the legislative leadership and governor provides substantial additional funding for the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which allows the state to implement the formula more quickly.
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.
Report Higher Education in California: Institutional Costs By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Margaret Weston, Kevin Cook Nov 12, 2014 Over the past 20 years, in-state tuition at both the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) has more than tripled. These tuition increases have led many to believe that spending in the state’s public higher education systems is out of control. However, a closer look reveals that institutional expenditures in the two systems—including faculty salaries and benefits, the largest budget category—have not increased significantly. Our evaluation of both revenues and expenditures shows that recent tuition increases have been driven by dramatic reductions in state subsidies to UC and CSU. In the past, General Fund contributions covered the majority of educational costs. Today, students (often with help from federal, state, institutional, and private grants) pay most of these costs through tuition and associated fees. Better budget data could help policymakers monitor costs and align higher education funding with state goals. But it is clear that tuition at California’s public universities has risen much more rapidly than the cost of providing higher education.
