Finding funds to build and renovate facilities is a major hurdle for public charter schools because most state laws do not provide charter schools with the full amount of state and local funding that other public schools receive. Although an increasing number of states are passing laws to address charter school facility funding gaps, inequities…

In 2021, California made historic investments in early learning to expand transitional kindergarten (TK) to serve all of California's 4-year-olds. Transitional kindergarten began in California in 2012 as a free public school program for 4-year-olds who were not yet eligible for kindergarten (a non-compulsory grade). Yet by 2019, just 28 percent of…

Voters in Marin County have long been willing to pass parcel taxes to fund their schools. In 2016, taxes faced unprecedented opposition from local activists; taxes in Kentfield and Mill Valley were defeated or passed by previously unheard-of narrow margins, respectively. What changed? This case study uses district financial and demographic data as…

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey provides policymakers, the media, and the public with objective, advocacy-free information on the perceptions, opinions, and public policy preferences of California residents. This is the 141st PPIC Statewide Survey in a series that was inaugurated in April 1998 and has generated a…

""The Achiever" is a monthly newsletter designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) $17 Million Awarded in Advanced Placement Grants; (2) After the Storm: New Orleans School Maintains High Standard…

How early childhood funds are channeled to communities significantly affects what supports and services are available, how they are provided, how well they are linked to other resources in the community, and who benefits from them. As pressure mounts for states and communities to strengthen their commitment to families with young children and meet…

Examines how school financial policies affect economic incentives and working conditions for teachers and how these policies might serve to make the teaching profession more attractive to new and experienced teachers. Particular consideration is given to the California public school system. (DR)

The proposals presented in this report were developed by the Joint Committee for Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education with the intention of strengthening the capacity of the California community colleges to meet the state's emerging economic and demographic needs. After section I provides a general introduction and statement of intent,…

This report is the fifth in a series issued reviewing policies and compensation levels for public higher education and community college executives. The report presents summary information about community colleges for: chancellors and presidents of multi-college districts and superintendent/presidents of single-college districts. In its comments,…

As part of a series of field hearings across the nation on the reauthorization of the Higher Education of 1965, the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met in Pleasant Hill, California, to hear testimony specifically on access to education for children of lower and middle class families in California. Discussed were the rising cost of higher…

The three case studies in this report describe state-level efforts to address diversity and equity in postsecondary institutions in California, Maryland, and Washington. A preface provides some background on affirmative action programs, litigation history, and the roles of state coordinating agencies and institutional governing boards. The…