blog post Geography of College Readiness in California By Cesar Alesi Perez, Hans Johnson, Vicki Hsieh, Niu Gao Jun 29, 2021 More than 40% of 9th graders finish high school and complete required courses for admission to a California public university. But this share varies widely across school districts and by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
blog post K–12 Enrollment Declines Vary across Districts By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty Jun 16, 2021 Public school enrollment in California declined by nearly 3% between 2019–20 and 2020–21. Drops in enrollment vary across school districts, though there is little evidence that the size of the decline is related to reopening, demographics, or other district-level factors.
blog post California’s New Baby Bust By Hans Johnson, Eric McGhee Jun 4, 2021 Although birth rates have been falling for years, they reached new lows in 2021. Women in their 20s account for the vast majority of recent declines.
blog post Food Insufficiency and School Meals during COVID-19 By Caroline Danielson, Niu Gao, Patricia Malagon May 24, 2021 Despite closures, California schools have been a key source of food for low-income students during the pandemic.
blog post California Remains on Track to Close the Degree Gap By Hans Johnson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia May 18, 2021 Six years ago, PPIC projected a shortage of 1.1 million highly educated workers in California by 2030. Today—despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic—the state is on track to close this gap.
blog post Digging into Enrollment Drops at California Public Schools By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty May 14, 2021 Statewide, public K–12 enrollment declined nearly 3%—or over 160,000 students—in 2020–21, with kindergarten numbers falling the most.
blog post Video: Californians and Education By Vicki Hsieh May 7, 2021 PPIC’s Rachel Lawler and Mark Baldassare discuss new survey findings about Californians’ views on student learning during the pandemic, Governor Newsom’s handling of K–12 education, and other topics.
blog post Seven in Ten Californians Support State-Funded Preschool By Deja Thomas May 6, 2021 With most Californians saying preschool education is important but expensive, a strong majority believe the state government should fund voluntary preschool programs for all four-year olds.
press release More Than Eight in Ten Say Children Are Falling Behind Academically During the Pandemic Apr 28, 2021
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Apr 28, 2021 Key findings from the current survey include: More than eight in ten Californians think K–12 students are falling behind academically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most Californians approve of Governor Newsom’s handling of the K–12 education system; most also approve of the way he is handling school reopening. Most say that the state’s public schools should be at least partially open now, and six in ten are concerned that schools will not be open for full-time in-person instruction this fall. Majorities say their local public schools do an excellent or good job of preparing students for college and for the workforce, but four in ten parents would opt for private school if cost and location were not at issue.
