Reading is the gateway to knowledge and future opportunity. Yet, only four in 10 third-grade students in California are reading at grade level. A disproportionate number of the students falling behind are Black and Latino children, English learners, and students with disabilities–including dyslexia. I stand with the California Early Literacy Coalition and their efforts to help California's children read at or near grade level by the end of elementary school.

California's literacy crisis is, in part, due to some school districts' usage of instructional materials and practices based on outdated and ineffective approaches to reading instruction that are not supported by the interdisciplinary body of research known as the “science of reading.”

Members of the California Early Literacy Coalition are proposing an evidence-based approach to early literacy reform, AB 1121 (Rubio), that will help California build and sustain equitable literacy outcomes for all students. This comprehensive approach includes state-level policies aligned with decades of interdisciplinary reading research on how the brain learns to read, including: 

• Access to evidence-based curricula and instructional materials in all classrooms;
• Professional development and instructional training for current elementary educators in evidence-based means of teaching literacy (as defined in current law.

The right to read is not only an education issue, it is a critical social justice issue that must be addressed with urgency. During the 2025 legislative cycle, I urge our state's policymakers to prioritize passing meaningful legislation that will help all children in California learn to read.