California’s public-school students will lose access to a widely used online research platform after state lawmakers cut $5.5 million in funding from the recently approved 2026-2027 budget. The reduction affects Compass, a digital database that provides vetted educational resources to more than 10,000 public schools throughout the state.

Compass offers access to a range of materials, including the Encyclopedia Britannica, National Geographic content, PBS documentaries such as those by Ken Burns, and various scientific journals. The platform is managed in part by the California State Library and is designed to support student research and classroom assignments with ad-free, teacher-approved content.

Greg Lucas, director of the California State Library, which helps oversee the program, expressed surprise at the budget decision. “We had no idea this was coming,” he said, warning that the removal of funding will have a significant impact on students across California. Educators similarly described the elimination of the program as detrimental. Kate MacMillan, library services coordinator for Napa Valley Unified School District, called the cut “catastrophic” and characterized Compass as a “lifeline” for students.

The state budget, totaling $351.7 billion, initially included funding for Compass but was revised before final approval to remove this allocation after July 1, 2027. Instead, the budget directs $5 million toward implementing a new dyslexia screening program and allocates $60,000 to California Educators Together, a web-based platform for sharing lesson plans. Additionally, lawmakers deferred $3.9 billion in constitutionally mandated Proposition 98 funding for K-12 education and community colleges.

A spokesman for the California Department of Finance, H.D. Palmer, clarified that the decision to remove Compass funding was not part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s original budget proposal. “The governor did indeed sign the budget late yesterday that contained this provision,” Palmer noted, “but to suggest that this was an original proposal from the governor would be incorrect and inaccurate.”

The loss of Compass raises concerns about how students and teachers will access reliable research materials moving forward, especially as the platform’s curated content had previously allowed parents to be assured that children were guided by educational priorities rather than advertising algorithms.