RSS feed of recent K-12 education budget and policy publications from the Legislative Analyst's Office.https://lao.ca.gov/K-12 EducationThis post summarizes Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2026-27 budget package.https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5209https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5209Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationIn this post, we summarize some of the most notable components of child care and state preschool program budgets in the 2026-27 state spending plan.https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5203https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5203Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationThe 2026-27 Budget: May Revision Proposition 98 Estimates and K-14 Spending Planhttps://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5188https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5188Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationThe Commission on State Mandates (the Commission) recently found two new requirements to be reimbursable state mandates: (1) offering menstrual products in public school restrooms and (2) confirming that public high school students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act Application. In this post, we provide background on school mandates, then describe our assessment and recommendations for each of the new mandates. This post fulfills a requirement for our office to analyze new mandates, as specified in Section 17562 of the Government Code. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5179https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5179Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationIn February 2026, CDE certified P-1 data for 2025-26 and annual data for 2024-25. In addition to preliminary ADA, the P-1 data also includes preliminary estimates of total LCFF costs and other associated data. In this post, we describe our findings from the updated data and the fiscal implications of this data on the Governor’s January budget LCFF estimates for 2025-26 and 2026-27. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5178https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5178Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationIn this brief, we assess the Governor’s 2026-27 proposals for child care and State Preschool and provide associated recommendations. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5168https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5168Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationIn this brief, we examine the Governor’s proposal to restructure state governance. The first section explains how the current system evolved and describes the main entities and their responsibilities. The second section reviews previous governance studies and explains how governance works in other contexts. The third section describes the Governor’s proposal, including its core feature: transferring management of the California Department of Education from the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to a new education commissioner. The fourth section assesses the merits of this proposal and outlines some principles for re-envisioning the SPI's role. The fifth section provides our recommendations. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5165https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5165Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationThis post analyzes the Governor’s budget proposal to increase the size of grants and extend the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization Incentive program. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5153https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5153Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationIn this brief, we provide our analysis of several K-12 proposals included in the Governor's 2026-27 budget. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5131https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5131Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTK-12 EducationAssembly Committee on Education and Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourismhttps://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5109https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5109Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT