We created Ed100 to help you develop a well-rounded basic understanding of California’s education system, emphasizing the facts and competing points of view. Along the way, the lessons have included links to help you learn more.

Congratulations! This is the last of the lessons — you did read them all, right? If so, don't be sad: there's plenty more in our blog. Feel like fishing for more? Read on for suggestions about sites, resources, and blogs worth knowing about.

Essential resources focused on education in California

The following free sources are focused on California education issues. These sources are rigorous in their fact-checking, acknowledge errors, and avoid both hype and name-calling.

• EdSource (free and highly recommended): EdSource is the daily news source of record for education in California, closely read by district leaders and those who make state policy. If you want to be in the know, subscribe online and follow their weekly podcast. Ed100 has prepared you to be an informed reader.
• CalMatters (free): Covers news about California policy, regularly including education.
• Ed100 (free): Explains California's public education system plainly in English and Spanish. Not a news source, but updated frequently.
• The Learning Policy Institute (LPI): For over a decade, this policy-oriented site has conducted and curated research about education policies and practices in California and beyond. LPI research about teacher compensation and learning conditions is particularly essential.
• Ed Policy in California (free): Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) advises California policy leaders about research findings relevant for education policy decisions.

EdSource.org is the daily news source of record for education in California. It's free and highly recommended.

California Reference resources (all free)

• The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO): The non-partisan California LAO advises the state legislature. Its reports are not promoted to the public, but they are surprisingly readable, perhaps because they have to make sense to legislators’ staff members.
• Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC): For opinion poll data related to education issues in California, check PPIC. This organization’s poll questions tend to be neutrally worded, and they are published for public use. (Big advocacy organizations, by contrast, tend to hire their own private pollsters for opinion research.)
• California Budget and Policy Center: This nonprofit organization explains budget issues clearly and reliably, at considerable depth and with surprising promptness. At budget time, it’s free webinars are essential viewing.
• GreatSchools: This site helps parents make informed choices about where to emroll their kids in school. It also includes many plain-language explanations of education issues, mostly with a national emphasis.

National sources

• The Hechinger Report (free): A widely-read national news blog about education, with an emphasis on equity and innovation.
• The74 (free): C covers news about education policy nationally. Describing itself as a “America’s education news sourcewatchdog,” it tends to highlightfeatures skeptical voices.
• EdWeek (Subscription): At the national level, EdWeek is the newspaper of record for leaders in the education sector. Most of the site is protected behind a paywall, so Ed100 links to it only sparingly. The content is high quality.

Government(ish) sources of public data (all free)

• The Ed-Data Partnership: This site (ed-data.org) provides convenient access to a wealth of official data about California schools, districts and counties. It is the best place to look if you are trying to compare your district to other districts. Uniquely, it provides some detail about how districts use money, including comparisons of teacher pay. The site also makes multiple-year comparisons possible.
• DataQuest: Look here for California data about test scores, dropout statistics and more. Buckle up — it’s not designed for easy browsing. If you get stuck, try reaching out to the staff. They have been helpful and responsive.
• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): This essential source for reliable national data about education was massively defunded by the Trump administration in 2025.
• IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series): The Minnesota Population Center provides free, deep access to census data. If you love statistics, this is the best-kept secret in public data.

California-based advocates

• ChildrenNow: This organization emphasizes policy advocacy for children’s issues, including education. Its annual report card is widely read. ChildrenNow also helps small organizations participate in statewide policy advocacy by organizing them to participate in joint communications on an opt-in basis.
• Ed Trust-West: This California-based organization focuses on equity in educational opportunity, using data as its core tool for persuasion. The organization publishes "report cards" for districts as well as a major research report, policy paper, or other insight every few months.

Opinions (all free)

The following national periodicals, blogs and podcasts are widely read and influential. Each brings its own editorial perspective.

• Flypaper by the Thomas Fordham Foundation: This education policy blog, generally regarded as conservative-leaning, has a playful style and a popular podcast. It tends to feature commentators with a positive view of charter schools and a skeptical view of teacher unions. The editors are serious about research and very informative.
• Education Next: This quarterly periodical emphasizes national and international education policy and research. For a fee, a print edition is available.
• Edutopia: This monthly magazine and blog emphasizes teachers and teaching. It's loaded with creative ideas, but can be fairly jargon-heavy, especially in its robust comment stream, where teachers interact about the ideas.
• SchoolFinance101: Professor Bruce Baker is passionate about the potential for research to help support good education policy choices. He is perhaps even more passionate (sometimes to the point of rudeness) about revealing flaws in research methodology and the abuse of statistics.

But wait, there's more!

For most of the organizations listed above, publishing is central to the work that they do. There are many, many other organizations and education scholars who have something to say.

Here's the thing, though: you don't have time to follow them all. Nobody does. That's part of the reason why EdSource and EdWeek are so important: if something really notable happens, they'll probably cover it. Once you graduate from Ed100, your best next move is to subscribe to EdSource (which is free, fair, and focused on California).

Below is a sampling of some organizations and sites that you should know about, even if you don't follow them. The list is in no way exhaustive.

• The California School Boards Association (CSBA): CSBA provides training and support to members of school boards. It also advocates for state policies. Its blog is useful.
• The teachers unions (CTA and CFT): These are described in lesson Ed100 Lesson 7.5.
• The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA): This organization carries weight in Sacramento. Many school districts reserve budget to send staff to its well-attended conferences and trainings.
• The California State Parent-Teachers Association (CAPTA): The state PTA provides resources for its members, including training for parents, and especially for local PTA leaders. It is also a key partner of Ed100.org.
• Public Advocates: This civil rights organization drives change through law and litigation. It has had a long focus on equity in education in California.
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): The ACLU of Southern California has been particularly active in education-related advocacy.

Have we callouslly overlooked an essential resource that you think readers should know about? Please add a comment below. Yes, we DO read them.

Updated July 2025