The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aim to improve public education by increasing expectations, deepening subjects, and providing an active curriculum. These goals include addressing disparities in U.S. student performance, reducing remediation rates, improving workplace readiness, and promoting civic participation. Equitable CCSS implementation can help close opportunity and achievement gaps affecting low-income, minority, and English learner students, with all standards expected of all students. California has a unique chance to improve education by implementing the CCSS effectively.

California has long been viewed by the rest of the nation as leader in many areas, including education. The state’s K-12 and higher education systems were once the envy of other states. Of late, though, the news from the Golden State has not been so rosy. For the last three decades California has faced increased demands on public services while suffering through economic cycles that have had exaggerated effects on the state budget. The result has been increased competition for limited resources, budget uncertainty and steadily eroding state dollars for a local schools.

CA's school finance is highly regulated, with state funding allocated through categorical programs. In 2008-09, 40 Tier 3 programs were given fiscal freedom, leading to concerns that districts with more Tier 3 funding were disproportionately affected by the state's budget crisis. However, data show that all districts lost a similar share of their budget, with no large-scale changes in spending. Districts with more Tier 3 funding spent relatively more on alternative education, adult education, and non-instructional goals, and more of their budget on pupil services and special education.

California's system of school finance is highly regulated and prescriptive. A large share of state funding is allocated through categorical programs, that is, programs whose funding is contingent upon districts using the money in a particular way or for a particular purpose. In 2008–09, the strings were taken off 40 of those programs, collectively known as the "Tier 3" programs, as part of a budget deal that also reduced the funding for those programs.

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.

Governor Jerry Brown has called for a major overhaul of California’s school finance policies. His proposal for a weighted pupil funding system would simplify the rules that govern the distribution of funds to schools and school districts, while targeting a larger share of available resources to the schools and students with the greatest needs. In this policy report Mary Perry offers an overview and analysis of the policy change that the Governor has proposed.

The Early Assessment Program (EAP) is a national model for increasing the number of students who are prepared for college and careers upon graduating high school. It has been recognized by two national consortia as the model for designing new high school assessments aligned with Common Core State Standards. The report highlights the EAP's key features and potential to strengthen coherence and alignment in California's educational system, reviews research on its impact on student success, and suggests modifications to increase its value to students and educators.

Education reform efforts in Los Angeles and the US have failed due to the focus on governance and rules. The solution is to invest in capacity building, creating incentives and agency for students and teachers, easing adoption through regulatory relief, and financing those working on new learning models. The goal is to update the century-old model of learning, called Learning 1.0, with a new model, Learning 2.0, that builds an education system around the learning system. This approach is based on research into unconventional learning models.

The Quality Teacher and Education Act (QTEA) was passed in 2008 in San Francisco, authorizing $198 per taxable property to be collected by the SFUSD for 20 years. CEPA and PACE collaborated with the SFUSD to evaluate the implementation and impact of QTEA on teacher compensation, support, and accountability. This report documents the first-year implementation of QTEA and its effects on the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers, improvement of the teacher workforce, and removal of less effective teachers using a mixed-methods approach.

This report provides policy guidance for new state assessments aligned to Common Core State Standards. It aims to inform the work of the two consortia funded by the U.S. Department of Education in developing the assessments. The report includes three papers addressing issues of computer adaptive assessments, assessment of English learners, and assessing science. The authors' vision of new assessments goes beyond the horizon of current practice and emphasizes the need to use new technologies to provide useful and timely information to students and teachers.

This report explores how 10 California school districts responded to the deregulation of $4.5 billion in education funding, which became entirely flexible in 2009. The study investigates how district leaders made budget decisions and what local factors influenced their responses. The research was conducted by a team of scholars from the RAND Corporation, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and San Diego State University.

This report discusses the effects of California's partial release of categorical funds to local school boards in 2009. The increased flexibility has provided an opportunity to observe how districts respond to the policy change, but the impact is difficult to isolate as most districts have been struggling to maintain core services during a severe budget crisis. The report includes preliminary results from an ongoing study of district responses to the increased categorical flexibility.

The James Irvine Foundation sponsors the Linked Learning approach as a strategy for improving California high schools' performance. PACE was asked to gather evidence on the cost of linked learning programs. The report explores how traditional high schools use their resources and how much school districts spend on their high schools to achieve current performance. It proves challenging to judge whether reform strategies like Linked Learning cost more than, less than, or the same as traditional high school programs.