2025 School Accountability Legislative Report

California Department of Education

Legislative Report to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the Legislature

2025 School Accountability

As of March, 2025

Executive Summary

In the fall of 2024, the Governor signed SB 1315 (Archuleta), amending Section 33318.2 of the Education Code and Section 9795 of the Government Code. This legislation directs that by March 1, 2025, the California Department of Education (CDE) prepare a report for the legislature:

• Identifying local educational agency (LEA) reporting requirements;
• Specifying the purpose of LEA reporting requirements; and
• Making recommendations on eliminating, consolidating, and shortening LEA reporting requirements.

While the CDE recognizes the important role data plays in measuring outcomes, fostering transparency, and supporting accountability; the CDE further recognizes the frustration educators and LEA administrators experience when data collection efforts impact their ability to serve students, especially if those data collections fail to render information that clearly connects to improved student outcomes.

Before the passage of this legislation, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, had already been directing staff to undertake efforts to streamline and improve the CDE data and reporting processes. With the consistent goal of better serving California’s students and educators, Superintendent Thurmond championed several initiatives to collect and use data more strategically. Most notably, the CDE adopted a Data Strategy in February 2024 to reorganize staff and resources in support of department-wide data governance. Because this legislation aligns with work that has already begun, the CDE welcomes the opportunity to connect with stakeholders and the legislature to expand and enhance its ability to improve the collection and utility of California’s educational data assets.

The issues and reporting requirements highlighted in the narrative that follows are not an exhaustive representation of all issues and reporting requirements faced by California LEAs. It bears mentioning that reporting requirements fluctuate along with shifts in real-world conditions (e.g., COVID, wildfires) and the officials elected/appointed to make and enforce policy. This report is intended to affirm and spotlight the frustrations educators are facing as they seek to meaningfully encourage positive student outcomes while wading through bureaucratic requirements that do little to provide actionable insights that can be applied in the classroom.

For this report, stakeholder input and analyses rendered recommendations internally for the CDE, recommendations to be shared with external stakeholders/governing bodies, and recommendations for the California State Legislature.

Internal recommendations for the CDE include:

• Verify that required reports align with statutory mandates.
• Search for redundancies amongst required reports and collaborate cross-divisionally to eliminate multiple requests for the same data.
• Identify similarities amongst required reports and collaborate cross-divisionally to consolidate reports where possible.
• Examine conditions that prompted the original reporting requirement, determine if current conditions still support the reporting requirement, and make plans to phase out reporting requirements that have become obsolete.
• In instances where the CDE already has data in its possession, fulfill reporting requirements without LEA involvement.
• Develop and maintain resources to facilitate transparent, clear information on reporting requirements.
• Establish an annual schedule for reviewing LEA reporting requirements to ensure alignment with statutory mandates and best practices for student success.
• Determine requirements and funding necessary for connecting and updating systems to streamline and minimize LEA reporting requirements.

External recommendations include:

• Review what is being required by current mandates under their purview, to ensure common understanding of
  • Those being served by reporting mandates
  • Inputs, outputs, purpose, and goals of mandates
  • Time and resources needed to comply with mandates
  • Implications of mandates including:
    • Legal considerations (Does the mandate create liabilities for LEAs?)
    • Priority shifts needed to ensure compliance (i.e. What do LEA teachers/staff put aside to comply?)
    • Risks and benefits of compliance
• Consolidate redundant/similar data collections where feasible.
• Phase out data reporting requirements that have become obsolete.
• Evaluate the legal implications, resource requirements, and risks/benefits of reporting requirements, consolidating redundant reports, and phasing out obsolete reporting requirements. Legislative recommendations include collaborating with education constituents (including the CDE and advocacy groups mentioned in this report) to champion legislation requiring ongoing funding to update, connect, and maintain outdated data systems.

Legislative recommendations include:

• Provide ongoing funding for improvement and maintenance of California’s educational data systems.
• Provide ongoing funding and requirements for data literacy training for decision-makers, educators, families, and students.
• Require inclusion of the CDE, education advocacy groups, and LEA representatives prior to modifying or augmenting state-level LEA reporting mandates.

If you have any questions regarding this report or need to request a copy of this report, please contact me or have your staff contact Elizabeth Wisnia, Education Programs Consultant (916-319-0586 or ewisnia@cde.ca.gov).

2025 School Accountability Report to the Legislature (DOCX)