Local officials have begun reevaluating how much their communities are getting for their single biggest expense: the degree-certified competence of public school teachers and administrators. Does every school system really need a credentialed curriculum director, when any good teacher should...

A key goal of public education is to provide equitable opportunities for students, regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances. Achievement gaps on state standardized tests based on differences in family income levels are staggeringly wide and have become larger over...

California’s local governments—cities especially—and school districts have been packing ballots with tax increase measures in recent years and another batch is on tap for next year. Voters have, more often than not, bought into officials’ pleas for more revenue and...

A report by a team from a Stanford University public policy organization makes a case that taxpayers and educators should heed. The growing cost of pensions for public school teachers is driving local school taxes while eating away at the...

By most accounts, California is thriving. Industries including entertainment, technology, real estate, and agriculture are flourishing, and state coffers are growing thanks to a booming economy and additional revenues raised by voters at the ballot box. At the same time...

Sacramento’s school system has emerged as an example of mismanagement that shows no indication of changing. Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a prestigious think tank created by California’s major universities, has chosen Sacramento City as a starkly negative example...

The unexpected defeat in 2016 of a school parcel tax in wealthy Marin County and the near-defeat of another in the county that same year prompted a trio of authors to look into what had turned many voters against them.

Policy Analysis for California Education, in a new report, found that other school districts in California that may have similar budgetary problems should heed Sacramento City Unified’s ongoing fight as a warning.

Sacramento City Unified's ongoing labor fight serves as a cautionary tale for other school districts in California that may have similar problems lurking in their finances, an education think tank says in a new report issued today. A strained relationship...

The California School Boards Association and its partners last week took the next step toward putting a $15 billion tax initiative for K-12 schools and community colleges on the ballot, setting up the possibility that two competing tax measures will...

Advocates, leaders and researchers have been waiting for a long time to have an early childhood champion in the governor’s office. Now we finally have one. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the new California Legislature have a historic opportunity to put...

California school districts need to significantly increase their education spending to ensure that students have adequate resources and support to provide the state’s content standards and meet its academic goals. Based on 2016-17 numbers, funding schools adequately to meet these...

Revisions to California’s charter school law. A ban on suspensions for disruptive behavior through middle school. A crackdown on medical exemptions from vaccinations. These were among the more contentious – and momentous – bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into...

After intensive down-to-the-wire negotiations, legislative leaders and staff from the governor’s office have agreed on legislation to place a $15 billion preschool, K-12 and higher education construction bond before voters in March 2020. The $9 billion that will go to...

Negotiations over the next few days between the Newsom administration, the Department of Finance and legislative leaders will determine whether there will be a California state bond for K-12 and community college construction on the March 2020 ballot, as well...

As a candidate for governor, Gavin Newsom put forward a bold vision of high-quality early education for all the state’s youngest learners, and he is making good on his campaign promise. Early learning and child care occupy prominent places in...

Inequities continue to dampen the prospects for getting a $13 billion school construction bond on the 2020 California ballot, despite it sailing through the State Senate Education Committee last week. Assembly Bill 48 also slates a still-undetermined followup bond for...

In a recent EdSource webinar, "Building for the Future: Funding School Renovation and Construction," a panel of school facilities experts discussed a proposed school bond measure making its way through the Legislature. The panel decidedly agreed to the need for...

n a rare move, civil rights groups are challenging statewide school bond legislation because they say California's formula for awarding construction money benefits wealthier school districts more than poor areas that may need upgrades the most. A bill that would...

Despite strong evidence that high-quality early education programs can have a powerful impact on children’s future success in school and the workforce, Californians rank new investments in early childhood services below other educational priorities, according to a recent poll of...

What is the fiscal impact of charter schools on California’s school districts? This is a simple question with no simple answer. Yet policymakers are ready to act. Many school districts in California are having trouble balancing their budgets and are...

Legislation to put a $13 billion school construction bond on the state ballot next year and a second bond in 2022 moved forward this week with strong support overall from the education community — and a vague promise by the...

California governor Gavin Newsom racked up significant wins last week when his first education budget sailed through the legislature mostly intact. A minimum increase, mandated by Prop. 98, will bump funding for K-12 and community colleges by $2.9 billion, to...

Because existing state funds for school facilities construction and renovation have been exhausted, school districts and community colleges are pushing legislation to place two bond measures, next year and in 2022, before state voters. But a recent study of California...