It’s time for an honest conversation about CA’s structural budget problems

Erin Heys, Patrick Murphy
January 30, 2023

EdSource, January 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom just released his budget for the 2023-24 year. The message regarding education funding was guardedly optimistic. Total K-12 education resources under his proposal would rise to $109 billion, a change of just 0.3% over the prior year. That very modest increase, however, might be the best-case scenario.

Related Posts

California’s Fiscal Future: Lessons from Canada’s Generational Fairness Budget

|

California Finance, Intergenerational Fairness

As California grapples with a projected budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, state lawmakers are under immense pressure to balance the budget. This financial strain is...

Why investing in public education pays off

|

California Finance, Early Care and Education, Higher Education, K-12 Education

Funding state-wide education isn’t cheap. But a well-funded early care and P-16 system has both direct benefits to students as well as indirect benefits to society. As we review impacts...

Predicting 17-Year-Old Turnout in California if the Voting Age Were Lowered

|

2024 Election, California Finance, Political Engagement, Youth Voting Trends

Read the full policy brief, which reviews the research evidence for lowering the voting age, California’s historical context, and predicted turnout rates for 17-year-olds. Using data from the Cooperative Election...

A dip on the economic rollercoaster?

|

California Finance, K-12 Education

Governor Newsom’s revised K-12 budget could foreshadow future problems for CA schools On May 12, Governor Newsom released an updated budget for 2023-24 fiscal year. The new budget proposal reflects...

CA Unified School Districts At-Risk of Financial Insolvency During the Great Recession

Erin Heys, James Hawkins

|

California Finance, K-12 Education, Tax Reform

A new working paper from the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans analyzed California’s historical school district financial data to gain insights into why many of the state’s unified school districts...

Teacher Salary Growth in CA Unified School Districts During the Great Recession

Erin Heys, James Hawkins

|

California Finance, K-12 Education, Tax Reform

California school districts are in a moment of uncertainty. While the state budget has been on solid footing for the last several years, the latest financial outlook from the Legislative Analyst’s...

Quick Guide to CA School Finance Laws, Propositions, & Ideas for Reform

|

California Finance, Early Care and Education, Higher Education, K-12 Education

How does California fund its schools? Education finance in California has changed over time with a complex set of propositions, lawsuits, and laws that shape how California funds its K-12...

A Reexamination of Proposition 13 Using Parcel Level Data

James Hawkins, Max Zhang, Peter Amerkhanian

|

California Finance, Housing, Tax Reform

Executive Summary Proposition 13 plays an outsized role in the history of public finance in California and is a central feature of property ownership in the state. Despite its importance,...

Benchmarking the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset

Max Zhang, Peter Amerkhanian

|

California Finance, Housing, Tax Reform

The Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset (ZTRAX) is a comprehensive, national real estate database made available free of charge to U.S. academic, nonprofit and government researchers. ZTRAX is largely made...

Trends in K-12 State Revenue vs. Local Revenue, a State-by-State Comparison

|

California Finance, K-12 Education, Tax Reform

California has made progress to increase overall state revenue for schools since 2002, and as of 2019 ranks in the top ten of all states for per pupil state revenues. ...