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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.

September 17, 2017

Legislation roundup: STEM school, later school start, 'meal shaming,' budget reserves; what passed and what didn't

What also happened to California proposals for charter schools, fiscal transparency, longer teacher probation — and more.

EdSource staff
September 14, 2017

Los Angeles Unified settles lawsuit over funding for 'high-needs' students

The district agrees to provide an additional $150 million to 50 high-needs schools.

George White
September 12, 2017

California plan puts state on the right track to achieve academic goals for its students

Plan ensures maximum flexibility for California to continue its ground-breaking educational reforms.

Gary Toebben
September 11, 2017

California's education plan affirms commitment to local control

California's ESSA plan meets the federal government’s requirements while affirming the state's commitment to local control that allows teachers, principals and superintendents to meet the needs of our diverse students.

Michael Kirst
September 2, 2017

Lawmaker to request state audit of districts' compliance with funding formula

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi says data will show if funding is really spent on English learners and low-income students.

John Fensterwald
August 2, 2017

Watchdog agency's new CEO warns of impact of dwindling school revenue

Districts' revenues may be back to pre-recession levels, but not their buying power, says FCMAT's Michael Fine.

John Fensterwald
July 26, 2017

Expanding their taxing power would be one way to provide school districts more money

That's the recommendation of Rick Simpson, the Assembly's retired expert on school finance.

John Fensterwald
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