event Statewide Survey: Californians and Education Apr 20, 2017 About the ProgramPPIC's 13th annual statewide survey on Californians and K–12 education tracks opinions on educational quality and school funding. It also examines views on immigration enforcement and public schools, vouchers and charter schools, early childhood education, and the Local Control Funding Formula. PPIC researcher Lunna Lopes will outline these and other key findings. The survey was supported with funding from the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation.
Report Geography of Child Poverty in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Feb 22, 2017 One-quarter of young children across the state live in poverty. In inland regions, reducing child poverty requires efforts to improve job opportunities. In many coastal regions, increasing access to affordable housing will help.
Report Improving California Children’s Participation in Nutrition Programs By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Dec 12, 2016 Food and nutrition assistance programs help children gain access to adequate amounts of nutritious food—reducing child hunger and food insecurity as well as promoting healthy development. Yet in California, enrollment varies widely across counties and across the main nutrition programs that serve children: CalFresh, popularly known as food stamps; the WIC program, which serves infants and preschool-age children; and school meals, which include lunch and often other meals. Increasing children’s enrollment in CalFresh and achieving healthier outcomes for Californians are priorities for the state. The governor’s January 2016 budget set a goal of enrolling 400,000 more eligible children in CalFresh over two years. This report assesses children’s eligibility for CalFresh and eligible children’s participation in the three main nutrition programs to explore opportunities for improving enrollment and the benefits of higher enrollment. Key findings include: CalFresh has lower enrollment than free school meals and WIC. In 2015, 24 percent of all California children participated in CalFresh, while more than twice as many age-eligible children (51%) were enrolled in free school meals; 44 percent of infants and 34 percent of young children were enrolled in WIC. There is substantial potential to expand the impact of nutrition programs. We estimate that if all CalFresh-eligible children were fully enrolled in both CalFresh and either free school meals or WIC, these programs would reach 1.6 million more children. Infants and young children are better connected to nutrition programs. Among CalFresh-eligible children, we find that 12 percent of public school students participate in neither CalFresh nor free school meals—more than a quarter million school children (331,000). In contrast, only 4 percent of infants (21,000) and 9 percent of young children (87,000) are disconnected from both CalFresh and WIC. Higher participation in nutrition programs would lower child poverty. Among public school students living in poverty, we project that full participation in nutrition programs would increase family resources by 15 percent. Among infants and young children living in poverty, we project that family resources would increase by 9 percent following full participation in nutrition programs. To some extent, lower CalFresh enrollment reflects more restrictive eligibility requirements. However, there is good reason to believe that more children participating in free school meals and WIC could be connected to CalFresh. Currently, most policies designed to integrate nutrition programs run from CalFresh to school meals. Building robust, two-way connections could help counties and the state better achieve the goals of these programs so more children have access to adequate, nutritious food.
blog post Public Preschools Support Education, Work By Caroline Danielson, Monica Bandy May 23, 2016 As policymakers discuss California’s system of early childhood care and education, it is useful to look more closely at the families who use it—or might like to.
blog post Video: Californians’ Views of K–12 Education By Linda Strean Apr 26, 2016 Most Californians say state funding for their local public schools is inadequate, and most favor ballot proposals likely to increase it, according to PPIC’s 12th annual survey on Californians and education.
event Statewide Survey: Californians and Education Apr 21, 2016 About the ProgramPPIC's 12th annual statewide survey on Californians and K–12 education tracks opinions on educational quality and inequity as well as state and local school funding. It also examines views on early childhood education, the state's new academic standards and assessments, and the Local Control Funding Formula. PPIC researcher Lunna Lopes will outline these and other key findings. The survey was supported with funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment, the Silver Giving Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation. Please register in advance. There is no charge to attend, but space is limited. Lunch will be provided.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education By Mark Baldassare, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner, David Kordus Apr 20, 2016 Some findings of the current survey: Most Californians say that state funding for local schools is inadequate; solid majorities favor a Proposition 30 income tax increase extension and state and local school bonds. Democrats and Republicans are divided on the Common Core standards. Still, a majority of Californians are confident that Common Core will help prepare students for college and careers. While few Californians have heard of the Local Control Funding Formula, a solid majority are supportive after being read a short description of the policy. Californians are concerned about preschool affordability; most favor using some of the state budget surplus to fund early childhood education programs. Crosstabs: All Adults [PDF] Likely Voters [PDF] Time Trends: All Adults [PDF] Likely Voters [PDF] The survey was supported with funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment, the Silver Giving Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation.
press release Seeing Need for School Funding, Most Favor Proposition 30 Extension, Construction Bond Apr 20, 2016
