blog post Video: Homelessness in California’s Cities By Mary Severance Oct 13, 2022 PPIC’s Lande Ajose talks with League of California Cities CEO Carolyn Coleman, Bakersfield mayor Karen Goh, and San Diego mayor Todd Gloria about efforts cities are making to address homelessness and the most pressing challenges ahead.
blog post Good Timing for New Federal Education Law By Patrick Murphy, Paul Warren Dec 11, 2015 The new federal law replacing No Child Left Behind gives California a chance to prove that its approach to improving schools can work.
Fact Sheet 2020 Census: The Political Impact on California By Joseph Hayes Mar 22, 2019 An undercount in the 2020 Census could cost California a congressional seat and shift political representation away from low-income communities of color.
blog post UC and CSU Face Budget Challenges By Kevin Cook Jul 10, 2020 The University of California and California State University face significant revenue loss this year and may see further cuts in the coming years.
Report Targeted K–12 Funding and Student Outcomes By Julien Lafortune Oct 6, 2021 As students return to the classroom, record-high funding through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) will help California districts address gaps after a year of remote learning. In this report, we examine school and district spending against trends in student outcomes to offer insight into whether the LCFF is meeting its goal of improving equity in education.
Report School Finance By Margaret Weston Nov 14, 2012 There is broad consensus that California's school finance system is inequitable, inadequate, and overly complex. In response to these critiques, this year Governor Jerry Brown proposed an overhaul of our school finance system. Also, two initiatives on the November ballot asked voters to increase education funding through tax increases: voters approved Proposition 30, which was integral to the governor's budget plan, and rejected Proposition 38, a citizens' initiative. Despite the passage of Proposition 30, California faces many school finance challenges. This report provides an overview of the state's school finance system and outlines some longstanding school finance issues that may be in play next year.
blog post Lessons from the Great Recession Can Protect College Students Today By Kevin Cook, Hans Johnson Apr 29, 2020 State funding for public higher education saw deep cuts during the last downturn, while for-profit colleges moved to the forefront.
blog post Year-Round Pell Grant Revived By Sara Adan Jun 6, 2017 As California’s public universities work to increase the number of students who graduate within four years, the federal government has reinstituted the year-round Pell Grant—a financial aid program that can help accomplish this goal.
blog post New State Budget Maintains Water and Natural Resources Funding in an Uncertain Economy By Gokce Sencan Aug 1, 2023 When it comes to state funding for water and natural resource projects, California has typically turned to general obligation bonds as the first resort. The historic budget surpluses of recent years have shaken up this long-standing arrangement, but is that funding source drying up?