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.
Report Strengthening California’s Transfer Pathway By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Hans Johnson, Cesar Alesi Perez, Jacob Jackson Aug 29, 2023 Increasing the number of California community college students who transfer to four-year institutions is critical for creating a more diverse pool of college graduates. Despite recent progress, transfer rates remain low and racial disparities persist. Several reforms are already underway, and higher education institutions must continue to work together so more students can reach their academic goals.
Report Improving College Access and Success through Dual Enrollment By Olga Rodriguez, Daniel Payares-Montoya, Iwunze Ugo, Niu Gao Aug 21, 2023 At one time, mainly high-achieving high school students took college courses through dual enrollment; but access has widened under the College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) program. While CCAP students are benefiting from the program—they enroll in community college at high rates and reach key milestones—CCAP has room to improve.
blog post Video: Funding Education in California By Stephanie Barton Aug 17, 2023 Ten years ago, California implemented the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in an effort to improve student outcomes and increase equity. PPIC president and CEO Tani Cantil-Sakauye and a panel of experts—Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary Ben Chida, Assemblymember Josh Hoover, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond—discuss what LCFF has meant for K–12 education and talk about key issues moving forward.
blog post After a Three-Year Hiatus, Californians Will Resume Student Loan Payments Soon By Jacob Jackson Aug 2, 2023 The US Supreme Court recently ruled against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, while a pandemic-era freeze on payments and interest accrual ends in the coming months. What does this mean for the nearly 4 million Californians with federal student loan debt?
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Jul 12, 2023 Key findings of the survey include: Most Californians think it is very important that the state take steps now to respond to climate change, though views vary across party lines. An overwhelming majority say that extreme weather events are a problem in their part of the state. A majority believe the use of electric vehicles helps address climate change; half have seriously considered getting one, and nearly one in ten have already done so.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Tracking CalFresh Participation among Young Children By Tess Thorman Jul 10, 2023 CalFresh food assistance not only helps prevent hunger among young children but is an effective public investment in long-term health and economic outcomes. About one in three infants receive CalFresh each year. Geographic variation in newborn enrollment suggests that more could be done to help eligible families get support right after childbirth.
blog post Saving Steelhead—and Stitching a Community Back Together By Francisco Martínezcuello, Sarah Bardeen Jun 28, 2023 Near the small town of San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, a small creek is about to undergo a major transformation. The creek is known as Trabuco—and it just might hold the key to the survival of California’s endangered Southern steelhead.
Report District Spending of One-Time Funds for Educational Recovery By Julien Lafortune, Laura Hill, Niu Gao, Joseph Herrera ... Jun 28, 2023 To address COVID-19 disruptions to education, federal and state programs directed billions in stimulus aid to K–12 schools. These programs allocated greater funding to lower-income and high-need districts—and California districts applied their early funds to health, safety, and technology. More recently, spending has prioritized learning recovery.
Fact Sheet Student Achievement on California’s K–12 Assessments By Iwunze Ugo, Emmanuel Prunty Jun 27, 2023 The results from California’s 2022 Smarter Balanced Assessments suggest that pandemic disruptions to K–12 education reversed nearly six years of academic progress. Declines in proficiency were widespread, but there was substantial variation across grade levels and demographic groups.
