blog post LAUSD’s Measure EE and the Parcel Tax Vote Threshold By Patrick Murphy, Jennifer Paluch Jun 3, 2019 Los Angeles voters are considering a local parcel tax, while the legislature explores a constitutional amendment that would lower the vote threshold for such measures in the future.
blog post Video: Academic Progress for English Learners By Mary Severance Jan 31, 2019 A new PPIC report looks at the progress of English Learners in grades 6-12 in Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School Districts.
Fact Sheet Californians’ Views on Climate Change By Mark Baldassare, Alyssa Dykman, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner Sep 7, 2018 The state’s leadership on climate change is important to most Californians. Most are concerned about the effects of global warming—including severe wildfires and rising sea levels. Majorities support action on climate change even if it increases costs.
blog post Video: Improving Outcomes for English Learners By Mary Severance Jun 5, 2018 Recent K‒12 reforms change how California funds, assesses, and holds districts accountable for English Learner students, currently about 21% of the public school population.
Report College Prep for All: Will San Diego Students Meet Challenging New Graduation Requirements? By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau, Karen Bachofer, Sam M. Young Apr 27, 2016 Several of California’s major urban school districts have adopted ambitious new high school graduation requirements, making college preparatory coursework mandatory. This analysis—which focuses on San Diego—finds that the new requirements are likely to help many students but may damage the prospects of others. San Diego and other districts can take steps to help lower-achieving students meet the new graduation goals.
Report Implementing California’s School Funding Formula: Will High-Need Students Benefit? By Laura Hill, Iwunze Ugo Mar 12, 2015 The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) reformed California’s K–12 school finance system. It replaced a patchwork of formulas and specific (or "categorical”) programs with a focus on local control, funding equity, and additional support for the large share of students (63%) who are "high needs"—that is, low-income, English Learner, and/or foster care youth. However, there are still concerns about whether the new funding will reach high-need students. Because districts have spending flexibility, and because some of the extra funding for high-need students is based on their districtwide enrollment levels, it is possible that high-need schools in districts with relatively low overall shares of high-need students will not get the funding they need. Our research indicates that county offices of education—which are charged with assisting districts in developing and achieving accountability plans—may have extra work to do in parts of Southern California, the Bay Area, and Sacramento to ensure that extra state funding improves outcomes of high-need students who are not evenly distributed across district schools.
Report Child Poverty and the Social Safety Net in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Sep 29, 2014 Because economic hardship is associated with a host of adverse outcomes, particularly for children, policies that can give children a better start in life are especially important. This report focuses on measuring material hardship among children across the state. Using the California Poverty Measure—which accounts for both family earnings and safety net resources and adjusts for work expenses and housing costs—we find that one-quarter of California’s children are in poverty. An additional 26 percent of children live in households that are "near poor,” or somewhat above what is often referred to as the poverty line. In short, about half of California’s children are poor or near-poor. Poverty rates, earnings, and the role of safety net resources all vary by region. But most poor children live in "working poor” families, with one or more working adults. And, without resources from the social safety net—which includes the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, CalFresh (California’s food stamp program), CalWORKs (California’s welfare program), and housing subsidies—there would be far more children in poverty throughout California.
