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In passing the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013, the Legislature shifted decision-making back to local districts and steered more money to districts with higher proportions of low-income children and English learners. Proposition 98, adopted in 1988, sets the overall yearly level of K-12 and community college spending through a complex formula tied to the growth in the state economy.

July 4, 2017

Board majority changes, but Los Angeles Unified’s superintendent’s position still secure

Michelle King has steered the nation’s second largest public school system to calmer waters. That’s the consensus of several prominent education leaders and others who work closely with the district in a variety of roles.

George White
June 28, 2017

National arts scores are in, and the western U.S. lags behind

Despite its creativity-focused economy, California arts education among the nation's worst

Carolyn Jones
June 28, 2017

Governor signs 2017-18 budget allocating more money to schools

Budget increases Local Control Funding Formula to 97 percent, boosts higher education spending and preschool eligibility.

Theresa Harrington
June 21, 2017

Reed Hastings backs school board candidates, but opposes elected school boards

The Netflix co-founder who has donated some of the biggest sums to charter school causes in California since 2011 thinks elected school boards are holding back education progress in the United States.

Louis Freedberg and Mikhail Zinshteyn
June 20, 2017

Oakland charters more likely to enroll higher-performing students than district schools

About 30 percent of Oakland students attend charter schools – one of the highest concentrations of charter students in the state.

Mikhail Zinshteyn
June 20, 2017

How the 2017-18 funding increase for California education will be spent

Use EdSource's interactive budget map to see where new education funds are being allocated in California's 2017-18 budget.

Justin Allen, Daniel J. Willis, and John Fensterwald
June 13, 2017

In a city of charters, the LA school district runs many of them

Unlike independent charters, affiliated charters’ student discipline policies match the district’s. They operate out of district buildings that they don’t have to pay for and the district covers their administrative expenses. Affiliated or dependent charters are “really connected to the mother ship,” said José Cole-Gutiérrez, director of the L.A. Unified’s charter school division, the body that oversees both groups of charters.

Mikhail Zinshteyn
June 13, 2017

California middle class families may still get scholarship help

The Legislature wants to maintain financial aid for UC and CSU students from families earning between $80,000 and $150,000 a year. But that conflicts with Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to phase out the program.

Larry Gordon
June 12, 2017

Gov. Brown agrees not to hold back money from California schools next year

The proposed budget includes $30 million in incentives to attract new teachers.

John Fensterwald
May 22, 2017

White House seeks billions in cuts to higher education spending

Trump's budget proposal must still win Congressional approval. Among the deep spending cuts are $143 billion in cuts to higher education over the next decade, according to a budget summary released on Monday.

Mikhail Zinshteyn
May 21, 2017

Gov. Brown's proposal delays $1 billion for schools until 2019

The governor's view is it's better to wait to see if revenues come through than to cut later.

John Fensterwald
May 11, 2017

With higher revenues, Brown to provide $2.8 billion more next year for K-12 schools

The Local Control Funding Formula and state preschools will get more money.

John Fensterwald and Theresa Harrington
May 3, 2017

California’s largest charter group pushes its agenda with money and people power

Buttressed by its roughly $18 million in political spending in 2015 and 2016, the California Charter Schools Association is a rising political force in California that’s challenging the teachers unions’ prowess in shaping local and state education law.

Mikhail Zinshteyn
May 2, 2017

Oakland students and parents hope fledgling educational travel program continues

The pilot Thrival World Academies program, which took 11 Oakland high school students to Thailand for three months, hopes to expand to 25 students next year.

Theresa Harrington
May 1, 2017

Researchers find wide variations in understanding, implementing California's school funding formula

The study finds "good-faith efforts" overall, but some districts are not spending on students targeted for extra money.

John Fensterwald