Governor Newsom’s first Budget Proposal increases funding for education in California. There are areas of substantive overlap in the Budget Proposal and research findings from the Getting Down to Facts II (GDTFII) research project, released in September 2018, which built an evidence base on the current status of California education and implications for paths forward. As the Budget moves from proposal to reality, it is critical that the evidence from GDTFII continues to inform the policy process.

This article uses case studies to explore how district administrators' conceptions of equity relate to finance reform implementation. The authors identify two conceptions of equity: greater resources for students with greater needs, and equal distribution of resources for all students. These beliefs were reflected in resource allocation decisions and were informed by districts' student demographics, organizational identities, and perceptions of adequacy.

The policy brief examines the impact of QTEA on teacher recruitment, retention, and overall teacher quality in the San Francisco Unified School District. It provides evidence of the effectiveness of salary increases in attracting and hiring higher-quality teachers, and the importance of strategic hiring and retention efforts. The brief also highlights the need for teacher confidence in the longevity of such policies, and suggests the Local Control Funding Formula as a means to ensure sufficient funds for competitive teacher salaries.

This report commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Getting Down to Facts project, which sought to provide a thorough and reliable analysis of the critical challenges facing California’s education system as the necessary basis for an informed discussion of policy changes aimed at improving the performance of California schools and students. The report focuses on the four key issues that received emphasis in the Getting Down to Facts studies: governance, finance, personnel, and data systems.

This brief analyzes the relationship between teacher employment, collective bargaining laws, and school district policies in California. The authors examine the extent to which California's legal structure constrains or facilitates district-level discretion over teacher employment policies and practices. They classify various aspects of the teacher-school district employment relationship into four categories, and conclude that California statutory law is somewhat more constraining of administrative decision-making in teacher employment matters than in four other large and diverse states.

This article discusses how teacher recruitment and retention affect the quality of teaching in schools. The supply and demand model, including wages and non-pecuniary job attributes, influences the supply of potential and current teachers. The demand for teachers depends on factors such as student enrollment and institutional constraints such as hiring authorities' skill and efficiency. The article identifies common policy approaches to improve recruitment and retention and summarizes current research on their effectiveness.