Education

California’s public universities will get an infusion of cash to increase enrollment, smooth students’ progress toward graduation and repair aging buildings under a state budget agreement reached today by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders.

Attending a university in California can be a financial burden beyond the means of many college hopefuls. Rising tuition is compounded by the lack of affordable housing in the state and the high cost of living.

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.

Charter school supporters may be an effective counterbalance to the prevailing influence public-employee unions have long exerted on Democratic politics in California. But the billions in campaign donations by pro-charter tycoons also points to the outsized sway personal wealth can have on elections.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has a multimillion-dollar project to fix or shut down tainted water fountains. It's taking calls from other districts seeking advice on how to do the same.

Gov. Jerry Brown faces challenges to convince the Legislature and a skeptical community college faculty that online education is the key to reaching the 2.5 million Californians aged 25 to 34 who graduated from high school but lack a college degree.

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.

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.