Jessica Calefati

California schools may need to use over half of all their new money to cover growing pension obligations—prompting some districts to predict deficits and many to begin cutting programs, reducing staff or drawing down reserves.

Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck split the vote in Tuesday’s race for superintendent of public instruction, setting up a high-profile November contest that could become a costly referendum on charter schools.

The nation’s second-largest school system has enjoyed a major infusion of funding since the bone-deep cuts it endured during the recession. But in coming years, school officials project growth in employee pension and healthcare costs will eclipse the change in revenue.

Both frontrunners to be California's new superintendent of schools say they will transform the post into a more forceful voice for education reform—but their split on charter schools may be decisive in this costly campaign.

California’s poor students performed worse on a national exam than needy kids from all but one other state, according to results released this week by the National Center for Education Statistics.

If extremely low, declining performance on math and reading exams alone were enough to trigger state support, the number of California districts that could expect special state help would almost double from 228 to more than 400, a CALmatters analysis shows.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark school funding formula would not only win more money under the state budget blueprint he released Wednesday but also be subjected to the sort of transparency and accountability lawmakers and advocates for needy kids have been seeking since its adoption almost five years ago.

A veteran teacher reveals the challenges and frustrations she faces every day as she tries to close an achievement gap for her students in San Francisco’s Bayview.

This post is part of our Open Reporting at CALmatters, in which we share progress on stories as we’re developing them, while also inviting you to share thoughts and comments to help inform our research. Our goal: more transparent and effective journalism. We welcome your feedback.

In the past year, CALmatters, Capital Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times have partnered to examine the history of the state’s pension woes and how key decisions to boost public workers’ benefits without setting aside extra money to pay for them have threatened the bottom lines for universities as well as state and local governments. Now, we’re turning our attention to schools.