Governor Gavin Newsom has made education funding one of his priorities during his final year in office. He also made an unexpected proposal during last week’s State of the State address — to bring oversight of the state Department of...
As part of his budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced a new educational plan that sounds reasonable, as it streamlines regulatory authority and places more oversight in the governor’s office. Per Newsom’s statement, “California’s K-12 education system as...
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday previewed a major education system overhaul that would give the next governor more authority over state school policies and redefine — and almost certainly diminish — the role of the elected state superintendent of public...
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said he was blindsided by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal Thursday to curtail the superintendent’s duties and he disagrees with it, although it’s unclear what he can do to stop it. “Tony Thurmond is...
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said he was blindsided by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal Thursday to curtail the superintendent’s duties and he disagrees with it, although it’s unclear what he can do to stop it. “Tony Thurmond is...
Policy Analysis for California Education has released a new report, “TK–12 Education Governance in California: Past, Present, and Future,” that offers insights into long-standing structural complexities in California’s education system as well as recommendations for realigning roles and responsibilities to...
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday unveiled a sweeping proposal to overhaul how California’s education system is governed, calling for structural changes that he said would shift oversight of the Department of Education and redefine the role of the state’s elected...
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to move the state Department of Education to the control of the executive branch as part of his spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. Newsom’s office teased the proposal in a release early Thursday...
Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce Thursday that he will ask the Legislature to shift the operation and control of the California Department of Education from the state superintendent of public instruction to the governor and the State Board of Education...
This year’s budget proposes to implement recommendations of the Legislature’s 2002 report, California’s Master Plan for Education, to move oversight of the California Department of Education and ultimate responsibility for state oversight and support of local educational agencies under the...
Governor Newsom’s January 2026 proposal to modernize California’s TK–12 education governance would unify the State Board of Education with the California Department of Education and redefine the role of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Announced as part of the 2026–27 state budget, the proposal draws on long-standing research highlighting fragmentation in the state’s governance system and aims to strengthen coherence in education policy and implementation. The proposal aligns with findings from the December 2025 PACE report emphasizing clearer roles, stronger alignment, and coherent leadership to improve outcomes for California students.
For years, California schools have pushed to change the way the state pays for K-12 education: by basing funding on enrollment, instead of attendance. That’s the way 45 other states do it, and it would mean an extra $6 billion...
California’s public school system, which purports to educate nearly 6 million students ranging from 4-year-olds in transitional kindergarten to near-adults preparing to graduate from high school, is in a world of hurt.Its students perform poorly in national tests of academic...
California’s school funding law hasn’t proven as equitable or effective as legislators envisioned when they passed the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013. So lawmakers and education advocates have been discussing several ideas to fix it, including adjusting the funding...
High school principals across California and nationwide say raids by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement have provoked a “climate of distress” among immigrant students who have been bullied on campus and whose attendance has dropped, according to a study released Tuesday...
John Rogers and Joseph Kahne, with the Democracy and Education Research Team, have authored a report that details the troubling impacts of immigration enforcement on students, families, and schools. The paper presents the results of a new nationally representative survey...
In American education, the scars of the “accountability wars” still run deep. More than two decades after the federal No Child Left Behind Act established punitive, high-profile accountability requirements for America’s K–12 schools, states and districts remain wary of debates...
California’s public school system, which purports to educate nearly 6 million students ranging from 4-year-olds in transitional kindergarten to near-adults preparing to graduate from high school, is in a world of hurt. Its students perform poorly in national tests of...
A few months ago, a high school English teacher in Los Angeles Unified noticed something different about his students’ tests. Students who had struggled all semester were suddenly getting A’s. He suspected some were cheating, but he couldn’t figure out...
California’s school governance system needs to be overhauled to make it more accountable, clear up confusing lines of authority and address uneven assistance, according to a new report released Monday. These and other systemic weaknesses are undermining the potential success...
President Donald Trump has revived a longstanding Republican Party call to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. While the Cabinet-level department needs an act of Congress to be eliminated, the Trump administration is using its hiring and firing power to...
The report TK–12 Education Governance in California: Past, Present, and Future examines the history of California’s education governance system, analyzes the state of the current system and its effectiveness across six key dimensions, and offers recommendations for realigning roles and responsibilities to create a more coherent education governance system in California. Education governance encompasses the mechanisms through which decisions are made, responsibilities are distributed, and accountability is maintained within the public education system.
In the first major study on basic aid since California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was enacted in 2013, researchers determined that 139 districts, which serve 5.5 percent of the state’s TK-12 students, benefit from growing funding advantages.The principle behind...
California state officials and some education advocates joined others around the country in condemning a plan announced Tuesday by the Trump administration to disassemble the U.S. Department of Education. The plan creates partnership agreements between the Department of Education and...
University of Wisconsin‑Madison Assistant Professor Christopher Saldaña interviews Julie Marsh, Executive Faculty Director at Policy Analysis for California Education and Professor of Education Policy, USC Rossier School of Education, along with James Bridgeforth, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, School of...
