Technical Reports

This report aims to help address the concern of whether resources available to public charter schools are similar to those available to traditional schools in California.

School construction and modernization costs California billions every year, but the state's current policies do not provide enough funds to meet local needs and create disparities that advantage wealthier communities.

Per-pupil spending in California has consistently been well below the national average, even with recent increases.

Despite recent improvements in K-12 funding, California spends less than many states with similarly high costs of living and, as a result, our schools have fewer resources than schools in other states, particularly the number of adults per student.

Early evidence on the Local Control Funding Formula shows that money targeted to districts with the greatest student need has led to improvements in student outcomes.

Pension costs are increasing and will meaningfully reduce local operating expenditures for districts unless the system is changed.

Experts estimate that it would take a 38% increase in spending to provide the services needed to give all California students opportunities to succeed in college and career.

Special Education costs are rising, but state support and funding for Special Education has not; as a result, special education finance is a particular concern for district leaders.

At a high level, California's teacher education system is aligned with its professional teaching standards, but the broad choices allowed in institutions' program designs result in wide variations in teaching candidates' learning opportunities.

The number of emergency teaching credentials has more than doubled since 2012-13; enduring solutions will need to take into account growing demand, a decline in enrollments in teacher preparation programs, and teacher turnover.

Staffing classrooms has become more challenging across California in recent years, but it is particularly challenging in some subjects and for disadvantaged and rural schools.

California principals in high-needs schools are less experienced, more likely to leave, and report lower salaries than their peers in other schools.

Access to school-based health care and mental health services is important for student success, but fewer than 20% of elementary schools offer physical health services and fewer than 40% provide any kind of mental health services.

English learners are more likely than other California students to be taught by early career teachers whose preparation and induction may not be sufficient.

Many California principals have experienced some high-quality preparation and professional development, but very few have had comprehensive training, although principals trained after 2013 seem better prepared.

Evidence from a variety of programs in California points to both the promises and challenges for local school districts that are responsible for choosing teacher evaluation procedures.

California's educational goals fit into a larger discourse about the need for children to develop their capacity not just for academic achievement, but for broader outcomes such as intellectual, social emotional, and civic development.

Surveys show teachers and principals are positive about the opportunities they've had to learn California's new standards, but teachers want more time to work together to adapt their teaching practice.

"Continuous Improvement" as an approach is a dramatic departure from business as usual, and requires a significant investment in capacity building and data infrastructure. 

The state’s efforts to improve education can be supported or thrown off course by federal policies, making it important for state leaders to strategically manage relations with Washington, D.C., and potential allies in other states.

Timely, accessible, and meaningful data is essential for schools and districts to improve outcomes for students, but California lags far behind other states in supporting an infrastructure for data-driven decisionmaking.

The combination of increased resources and flexibility can improve student outcomes, but many districts do not have the capacity to allocate resources effectively and the state's new System of Support does not yet provide the help needed.

New state policies emphasizing local control call for democratic involvement in school district goal setting and budgeting; districts that engage with their stakeholders more deeply are more strategic in targeting funds to high-need students.

Most educators support the new standards and hope that the state continues to "stays the course;" they seek high-quality materials and opportunities to improve their instruction.

School districts need support in order to fulfill new responsibilities, and California's extensive system of agencies and professional networks could be instrumental in providing that support, yet coherence and capacity among these multiple actors is inconsistent.

California has a patchwork of data systems that, if integrated and made more accessible, could be leveraged to answer important questions to help improve student services and outcomes; significant improvements to data usefulness could be made at relatively low cost if California policymakers had the political will to do so.

California's fledgling System of Support —which brings together the Collaborative for Educational Excellence, the Department of Education, and 58 County Offices of Education—is not yet fully addressing the needs of local schools and districts.

The California School Dashboard is a bold and promising experiment in school accountability but it also has weaknesses, in both data and presentation.

Charter school authorization in California is highly decentralized, with little accountability, in contrast to charter school policies in many other states.

Chief Business Officers are positive about the Local Control Funding Formula and have seen improvements in how districts make financial decisions, but they remain concerned about inadequate base funding and rising costs.

California's 11th grade tests of language arts and math—which are good predictors of college success—indicate that less than 30 percent of 11th grade students are ready for college-level work in both areas.

Students who were economically disadvantaged made significantly greater progress in charter schools than their peers in traditional public schools in 2014, but data to do the same analysis with current state tests were not available.

California's test scores, graduation rates and suspension rates have improved, but California still lags the nation both in average outcomes and in the equality of outcomes across student groups.

Though socio-economic conditions for California public school children have improved overall, one in five California schoolchildren live in poverty.

More than half of California's high schools offer career technical education programs, with students completing pathways at differing rates, by background characteristics.

Much of the large achievement gaps in California are evident at school entry, in part due to an early education system that is underfunded, fragmented, and inefficient.

California's English Learner Roadmap sets out a path for improving instruction and outcomes that national research supports, but implementation will require additional investments.