March 21, 2019
California school district pension payments: How EdSource did this story
EdSource analyzed state data to determine how per-student payments to employee pension funds increased for most districts from 2013-14 to 2017-18.
Topic
Research
March 21, 2019
California school districts' rising employee pension costs
Look up per-student pension costs for districts across California with this interactive database, and see how much they've changed since a 2012 state law passed to rescue the state’s two pension systems.
Phillip Reese And Daniel J. Willis
March 21, 2019
Interactive Map: Changes in pension costs for California school districts
View the changes in per-student pension costs across California school districts - Unified, Elementary and High school
Yuxuan Xie, Daniel J. Willis, And Phillip Reese
March 21, 2019
New data detail soaring costs of California school pensions
Districts’ average payments to pension funds CalSTRS and CalPERS doubled to about $1,000 per student in 2017-18. But contributions varied among districts and will continue to rise for at least two more years.
John Fensterwald
March 19, 2019
New training for California preschool teachers to help bilingual children prepare for kindergarten
The trainings teach preschool teachers how to help children learn English and keep their home languages, so they can be more successful in kindergarten and beyond.
Zaidee Stavely
March 4, 2019
California Supreme Court stops short of allowing school districts to modify existing pensions
Supreme Court reaffirms pension reform law's elimination of one benefit but larger challenge to modify pensions of teachers and other public employees will await a future decision.
John Fensterwald
February 4, 2019
Gun violence in schools and college affordability highest priorities for California voters, poll finds
Voters polled view early childhood programs as important but don't rank them as top priorities and are lukewarm about spending more for them.
John Fensterwald
January 24, 2019
Planned school closures in Oakland Unified have parents, teachers and community members on edge
Oakland Unified faces a budget deficit, in part because students are choosing charter and private schools. The district enrolls only 58 percent of the nearly 63,000 school-age children who live in Oakland.
Theresa Harrington
January 1, 2019
California education issues to watch in 2019 — and predictions of what will happen
Place your bets: curbs on charter schools, passage of universal preschool, more money for K-12, more teacher strikes and the resignation of Betsy DeVos; an untested governor and volatile president may affect the odds.
John Fensterwald, Yuxuan Xie, And Justin Allen
November 14, 2018
New California coalition agrees on next steps to improve schools, student achievement
The Alliance for Continuous Improvement releases a "GPS" guide that calls for improving on sweeping changes already in place: new education standards, a more equitable funding system and higher expectations for student success.
John Fensterwald
November 8, 2018
Most California school construction bonds, parcel taxes pass
Voters approved about 80 percent of 112 school facility bonds and 8 of 13 parcel but a lot of votes remain to be counted.
John Fensterwald
October 29, 2018
California school districts make new investments in teacher evaluation
San Juan Unified is one of the California school districts making investments in its teacher evaluation system. The district adopted a System of Professional Growth in 2016 that focuses on feedback and mentoring of teachers who are being evaluated.
Diana Lambert
October 25, 2018
Jerry Brown awaits his day in court on pension reform
The governor wants California Supreme Court to give public agencies, like school districts, the ability to change pension benefits for current workers in hard times.
John Fensterwald
October 11, 2018
A future in flux: what next for the California Department of Education?
Without a lot more money, the next state superintendent of public instruction must clarify the department's role under local control.
John Fensterwald
September 30, 2018
The case for spending a lot more on California schools
Two panels of teachers and principals were asked to design minimal staffing, programs and resources to meet state expectations for educating all students in California. Their finding: Add $22 billion to the tab.