Transparent California

09/30/2026

And from the Coast News...

"State public salary database Transparent California filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against the California Department of Education, alleging it blocked the release of superintendent and business officer contact information in Transparent’s public records requests.

The lawsuit alleges state education officials have stopped releasing contact information that Transparent California says is necessary “as part of its ongoing effort to make government pay and pension data public.”"

Thanks to the CalCoastNews for more of their excellent reporting on education issues in our state.

This is why we're always looking for people who would like to donate to the cause. Doing this can be expensive, and your small donation can certainly help!

http://transparentcalifornia.com/donate

https://thecoastnews.com/transparent-california-sues-state-over-school-officials-contact-info/

State public salary database Transparent California filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education.

09/30/2026

"A watchdog group that publishes compensation data for California public officials has sued the state education department in San Diego court for refusing to provide key school officials’ contact information in a spreadsheet it needs to request pay details from districts and charter schools."

Thanks to Kristen Taketa of The San Diego Union-Tribune for more of her excellent reporting on education issues in our state.

This is why we're always looking for people who would like to donate to the cause. Doing this can be expensive, and your small donation can certainly help!

http://transparentcalifornia.com/donate

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/09/28/public-employee-pay-watchdog-sues-state-education-department-for-records/?share=itarwecssiwuerecande

The email addresses the group is seeking in spreadsheet form are already published individually on the department’s website.

09/21/2026

This is exceptionally good news for the people of California.

"On Sunday, Newsom vetoed AB 1383. The Governor did so despite the bill passing the Senate 33–0 and the Assembly 69–2, with overwhelming support from Republicans as well as Democrats."

Amazing - a governor known as one who never saw a spending bill he didn't like is vetoing such a bill, and it's one that "most Republicans" actually forgot what they promised the people to get their vote and voted in favor of.

Will wonders never cease?

Thanks to Jon Fleischmann and the Flash Report's "So, Does it Matter?"

Yes, it does!

I said the Governor would sign the pension-expansion bill. Instead, he vetoed it and defended California’s pension reforms. Call be surprised, but very pleased.

09/18/2026

TransCal in the news!

"Last week the California Courier made public that while Fresno Unified School District cut $2.2 million in elementary field-trip funding and nearly 384 positions, their superintendent, Mao Misty, received $513,725 in total pay and benefits, sparking questions from parents about the district’s spending priorities.

Superintendent Misty’s compensation included $386,045 in regular pay, $40,563 in other pay and $87,117 in benefits, according to Transparent California. The $513,725 figure represented total pay and benefits, not base salary."

Thanks to Jeff Benziger of the Ceres Courier for using our data to call out local issues!

I recently wrote my opinion about the exorbitant salaries of public school officials in California as well as the problem of unfunded liabilities of the retirement system.

08/29/2026

Great work by our friends and cousins in Government Transparency, CalMatters.org and Adam Echelman.

"Last fall, CalMatters submitted records requests to 16 University of California and California State University campuses, seeking information about payments to their Division I athletes, but many schools provided little or no information in response. The lawsuit states that taxpayers are entitled to know the names of players who have received money and the teams they play on.

“When public institutions distribute public resources, the public is entitled to know who receives those resources, in what amounts, and on what terms,” the lawsuit says. Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the UC system, said the UC will “respond appropriately in court” and that it takes the “California Public Records Act and student privacy obligations seriously.”

These payments were also not reported to Transparent California in our annual public records request for data on all compensation from the agencies.

Clearly an attempt by public agencies, in this case universities, to hide where some of our tax dollars are going.

CalMatters is suing UCLA after it refused to provide information about how much they are paying student athletes for promotional deals.

08/27/2026

A great example of the value of the Public Records Act and the need for us all to support organizations holding our government accountable.

Thanks to the Voice of San Diego for uncovering this!

"One of the records described a February 2025 incident where an administrative analyst who was unmuted during a county-sponsored cultural responsiveness training attended by about 75 attendees allegedly exclaimed “I thought this wasn’t going to be political, but what do you expect when it’s taught by a bunch of Black people"

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2026/08/25/racist-comments-outed-in-voice-records-request-dept-head-out/

08/23/2026

TransCal in the News!

"Transparent California’s Director of Research, Todd Maddison said in a statement, “As we see more tax increase proposals appearing, we’re focused on giving the People the data they deserve to see how their existing tax dollars are being spent, so they can make informed decisions at the ballot box.”"

Who said that?

That's right, WE did! And so do YOU, don't you?

August 21, 2026 – Six Santa Monica City employees earned more than half a million dollars in pay last year, excluding benefits, and were among the 71 municipal workers who made more than $350,000, according to data compiled by Transparent California.

08/21/2026

TransCal in the News!

"Public agencies must report salary and benefits data to the state controller’s office, but K‑12 school districts are not required to do so, and many don’t. BUSD did not file a report for 2024, the most recent year available on the Government Compensation in California website.

But a look at 2024 salaries from Transparent California, a public pay and pension database, provides some insight into compensation for district employees."

Thanks to Vanessa Arredondo and Berkeleyside for doing such an exceptional job of using our data!

If you’d like to see more data like this, you can help by sponsoring data collection for your favorite public agency. Find that agency on http://transparentcalifornia and click "Sponsor This Agency." That not only provides funding but prioritizes the collection of the agency’s data in our systems.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/08/19/berkeley-unified-executive-salaries-bay-area-superintendents

Send a message to learn more

08/19/2026

..... and from the California Globe this morning.

"Our team has collected almost 3 million compensation records documenting $278 billion in total pay and benefits, and 1.5 million pension records with $64 billion in payments. Since launching over a decade ago Transparent California has now collected and posted over 50 million compensation and pension records. All available free at http://transparentcalifornia.com."

https://californiaglobe.com/fr/transparent-california-completes-2024-compensation-state-data-collection/

Transparent California Completes 2024 Compensation State Data Collection! The inordinate delays allowed by the state, and resistance from some of the agencies involved, is why we’re just now wrapping up 2024 By California Globe, August 18, 2026 4:18 pm 18 Aug 2026 4:18 pm Transparent California, t...

08/19/2026

For immediate release:

Transparent California Completes 2024 Compensation Data Collection!

Transparent California, the state’s largest database of public pay and pension data, has now obtained 2024 data covering over 93% of employee compensation and pension payments in our state. This includes state, county, city, school district, and special records.

Our team has collected almost 3 million compensation records documenting $278 billion in total pay and benefits, and 1.5 million pension records with $64 billion in payments. Since launching over a decade ago Transparent California has now collected and posted over 50 million compensation and pension records. All available free at http://transparentcalifornia.com.

This year we’ve made that site easier to use. Users report they love our site changes and web traffic has seen a tremendous increase, to over 2 million page views a month.

Did you know in 2024 149,065 public employees made total compensation exceeding a quarter-million dollars a year?

For more detail on what we’ve found in this data, go to our website and click on News and Updates for a summary.

And if you have a specific interest in an agency of our government, click “Get notified” on that agency’s page and you’ll get a notice when new data is posted.

Transparent California’s data collection schedule is determined by the State Controller’s Office reporting requirements. The inordinate delays allowed by the state, as well as significant resistance from some of the agencies involved, is why we’re just now wrapping up 2024.

Assembly Bill AB1821, if passed, would extend the time for a response from 14 calendar days to 14 “business days”, effectively be three weeks. This may sound small, but that deadline only applies to a “response”, not to provision of the actual records requested. Our legislature continues to ignore the current legislation has no defined deadline for production of the actual records, nor does it impose any penalty on agencies for delaying the process (or declining to respond altogether) even if the requester files a lawsuit and wins.

Transparent California’s Director of Research, Todd Maddison, notes “As we see more tax increase proposals appearing, we’re focused on giving the People the data they deserve to see how their existing tax dollars are being spent, so they can make informed decisions at the ballot box.”

Transparent California depends on the generosity of individual donors to enable this collection. Anyone with a specific interest in a particular agency can sponsor collection of their data and support the effort to provide the public with this service.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/news/transparent-california-2024-data-wrap-up

We've completed gathering 2024 data, here's what it says!