California educators, public librarians and advocates are calling on state legislators to restore ongoing funding for the California Online Media Program for Access and Student Success, or COMPASS, a statewide program that provides K-12 students and teachers free access to vetted online research resources.
The recently enacted fiscal year 2026-27 state budget eliminates COMPASS funding after July 1, 2027, ending the state's $5.5 million investment. Through Proposition 98, COMPASS provides digital resources at no cost to schools and public libraries, including those in rural or small districts. At least 94% of California's K-12 students can access COMPASS through their schools, and 100% of public libraries provide access.
COMPASS databases include Encyclopedia Britannica, PebbleGo, Gale, National Geographic for Kids, ProQuest and TeachingBooks. Resources can be filtered by age, grade and Lexile level, helping teachers integrate them into lessons and support students with varying learning needs.
Since 2018, COMPASS has provided free research and curriculum resources to California's public schools, with materials vetted by teachers and credentialed school librarians. The program has received more than 700 million searches.
According to the California State Library, individual schools subscribing to comparable materials independently would spend more than $216 million annually — nearly 40 times the state's current $5.5 million investment. Without statewide funding, access could increasingly depend on a district's ability to pay.
Amy Linden, teacher-librarian at El Dorado High School, said that before COMPASS her school could afford only one database. "It was so hard for students to find recent, timely, reliable, credible, accurate information when doing research or completing class assignments," she said.
Through Assembly Bills 873 (2023) and 2876 (2024), California has emphasized media and artificial intelligence literacy and students' ability to identify misinformation. COMPASS provides a safe alternative to open web searching.
Nadine Loza, a Riverside County school district librarian and educator for 22 years, said students face a complicated information landscape. "Now more than ever, they need access to high-quality, vetted, academic sources," she said.
According to resource provider Nick Glass, if COMPASS resources are lost, California would be the only state without educational databases for school-aged children.
Advocates are asking the state Senate to restore COMPASS to ongoing funding.
Edited by SMDP Staff