March 27, 2019

School and Pension Costs in California: What Can Be Done?

How are pension costs creating a challenge for school districts? This EdSource video explains why pensions are consuming a growing share of school budgets and what could be done.

EdSource staff

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 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

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.

Rose Ciotta

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