California's public education system is administered at the state level by the Department of Education, under the direction of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the education of approximately 6.3 million students. Administrative branches of the Department include the Executive Branch; the Finance, Technology, and Administration Branch; the Curriculum and Instruction Branch; the School and District Operations Branch; and the Assessment and Accountability Branch.

The functions of state staff include:

• Allocation of funds to local education agencies.
• Curriculum and management leadership.
• Assessment and program review.
• Focused school improvement intervention.
• Regulatory and compliance action.
• Child development agency assistance.
• Nutrition services and distribution of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) surplus donated food.

The primary duties of the Superintendent and the Department are to provide technical assistance to local school districts and to work with the educational community to improve academic performance. Major goals of the Department include: (a) holding local agencies accountable for student achievement in all programs and for all groups of students, (b) building local capacity to enable all students to achieve to state standards, (c) expanding and improving a system of recruiting, developing, and supporting teachers that instills excellence in every classroom, preschool through adult, (d) providing statewide leadership that promotes effective use of technology to improve teaching and learning, (e) increasing efficiency and effectiveness in administration of K-12 education, including student record keeping and good financial management practices, (f) providing broader and more effective communication among the home, school, district, county, and state, (g) establishing and fostering systems of school, home, and community resources that provide the physical, emotional, and intellectual support to help students succeed, (h) advocating for additional resources and additional flexibility, (i) providing statewide leadership that promotes good business practices, so that California schools can target their resources to serve students, and (j) improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department.

Since department programs drive the need for infrastructure investment, each department has a related capital outlay program to support this need. For the specifics on the Department of Education's Capital Outlay Program, see "Infrastructure Overview."