A companion to our June 2026 webinar with Brooke Powers, SVP of Strategic Partnerships and Growth at Open Up Resources.
Most budget summaries tell you what got funded. This one asks a more useful question for the people doing the work: what is the budget telling us, and what should districts do about it?
In the webinar above, Brooke Powers shares five signals she sees in California’s 2026-27 education budget and three planning questions every leadership team should be asking before the next school year. This post recaps those takeaways and adds verified budget context and source links so your team can plan with confidence.
The one-line takeaway: This isn’t a budget asking districts to launch a dozen new initiatives. It’s a budget that recognizes how much work is already underway and tries to support it. The opportunity isn’t in adopting more. It’s in implementing well.
5 Signals in the 2026-27 Budget
Brooke’s read on the budget is less about line items and more about direction. Here are the five themes she sees.
1. Implementation over adoption
The clearest theme is implementation. For years, education focused heavily on adoption: reviewing materials, running pilots, making decisions. That work matters. But two districts can adopt the same materials and get very different results.
The difference usually isn’t the curriculum. It’s what happens after the decision:
- Do teachers understand the instructional shifts?
- Do leaders know what effective implementation looks like?
- Is professional learning connected to daily classroom practice?
- Are educators supported when predictable challenges arise?
The budget’s emphasis on educator support and professional learning reflects a simple truth: implementation isn’t a phase that comes after the important decisions. Implementation is the important work.
2. Literacy stays central
No surprise that literacy continues to receive attention. What’s changed is the conversation. A few years ago, districts were still debating where they stood on the science of reading and foundational skills. Those debates are becoming less common.
What leaders ask now are implementation questions: How do we support teachers at different points in the journey? How do we create consistency across schools? How do we help principals know what to look for in walkthroughs? That shift, from “what should we do” to “how do we do it well,” is a sign of progress.
3. Language access from the start, not bolted on
In California, you cannot talk about student success without talking about multilingual learners. The strongest districts treat language access as part of good instruction, not a separate intervention, compliance task, or add-on initiative.
When language development and grade-level content become separate conversations, students carry the burden of connecting systems that were never designed to work together. The districts making the most progress help students engage rigorous content while developing language, because those goals depend on each other.
4. Mathematics still matters
Math improvement often lags literacy because the systems around it tend to be less developed. Literacy usually has a clearer roadmap; math is more complicated.
California districts have an advantage: the California Mathematics Framework offers a chance to rethink math instruction. But frameworks don’t change classrooms. People do. The same lessons from literacy apply: teachers need support, leaders need clarity, and implementation takes time, especially if we want students to experience math as reasoning, problem-solving, communication, and sense-making.
5. Build capacity, don’t just buy solutions
Some people look at a budget and ask what they can buy. Others ask what they can build. The second question usually matters more, because funding eventually goes away. Grants and one-time allocations disappear. Priorities shift.
The better question isn’t whether the money will still be there in three years. It’s: what will still be true because the money was there? Stronger instructional practices. Stronger systems. A shared understanding of what high-quality instruction looks like. Better student access to grade-level learning. That’s what sustained improvement looks like.
What the Budget Does NOT Do
Just as important as what the budget funds is what it leaves to you:
- It does not set your district’s priorities.
- It does not name your biggest challenge.
- It does not determine your strategy.
And that’s a good thing. California is diverse. What one district needs most may not be what another needs. The strongest leaders start with student outcomes, not funding streams. They get clear on what they’re trying to improve, then decide how to use resources. The reverse order, starting with available funding and retrofitting a plan, rarely leads to lasting change.
3 Questions to Ask Before Next Year
If you’re sitting with a leadership team this summer, start here:
- What outcomes matter most for students right now? Not ten, not twenty. What are the few things that, done well, would make the biggest difference for the students you serve?
- How are we supporting the people responsible for those outcomes? Every initiative eventually lands on someone’s desk, in someone’s classroom, on someone’s calendar. Support is not optional.
- How will we know whether our investments are making a difference? It’s easy to measure activity. It’s much harder to measure impact. Ask this from the start, or you risk collecting evidence of implementation without knowing whether students benefited.
These three questions cut through the noise and keep funding decisions connected to what matters most.
The Bottom Line: Clarity is the Investment
Across districts of every size and demographic, one pattern shows up again and again: the most successful systems aren’t the ones with the most resources. They’re the ones where people can clearly answer a simple question, “What are we trying to accomplish, and why?”
When that answer is clear, decisions get easier. Leaders know what to prioritize. Teachers see how their work connects to the larger goal. Resources align around a shared vision instead of competing priorities. Clarity doesn’t solve every problem, but it’s very hard to solve any problem without it.
As you plan how to leverage this budget, let the conversation start there. Not with funding streams, not with programs, not with vendors, but with a clear picture of what success looks like for students and what it will take to get there.
Plan Next Year with a Thought Partner
At Open Up Resources, we work alongside districts wrestling with these exact questions every day, across literacy, mathematics, multilingual learners, implementation, and long-term strategy. The best work starts with listening, understanding context, and building from there.
If your team is working through these questions and would value a thought partner, we’d welcome a conversation about your goals. We’re glad to share what we’re seeing from districts across California and around the country.
Learn More
- Open Up Resources high-quality instructional materials
- California’s 2026-27 TK-12 Education Budget Summary (official)
- Legislative Analyst’s Office: 2026-27 K-12 Budget Analysis
- EdSource budget coverage
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest theme in California’s 2026-27 education budget? Implementation. The budget emphasizes supporting work already underway, primarily through educator development and professional learning, rather than launching new initiatives. The clearest opportunity for districts is implementing existing priorities well, not adopting more.
What does the budget mean for literacy and math instruction? It continues investment in literacy coaches and ELA/ELD professional learning, and adds funding for the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership tied to the California Mathematics Framework. The strategic shift is toward implementation support, not just purchasing materials.
What should district leaders do first? Start with student outcomes, not funding streams. Identify the few outcomes that matter most, plan how to support the educators responsible for them, and define how you’ll measure real impact before allocating resources.