Adult schools are facing the biggest threat to their existence since the first school was founded in California a century and a half ago. An EdSource survey in October-November 2011 found that 23 of the state's 30 largest school districts had made major cuts to their adult education programs, including Anaheim Union High School District, which…

California community colleges are expected to provide a broad range of affordable educational opportunities to an increasing number of students, but the current system does not have sufficient funding to serve them all well. This report describes present budgetary sources and explains that colleges receive mostly discretionary funding. With the…

The 2010 EdSource Forum, held on March 19 in Santa Clara, focused on the obstacles and opportunities in the road ahead for public schools and community colleges. The Forum included four sessions. Two are covered in this report: (1) A sobering discussion of California's fiscal crisis by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor; and (2) A lively Q&A…

When voters approved Proposition 98 as an amendment to the California Constitution, they sought to guarantee public schools and community colleges a level of funding that would at least keep pace with growth in student population and the personal income of Californians and at best increase the amount schools receive. The calculation of the…

This publication describes the California community college system's mission, programs, and students, including information about the challenges all 110 campuses share and some of the ways in which they differ. It explores the dynamic tension between enrollment demand and funding, and it summarizes recent research that addresses such issues as…