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California K-12 students are faring slightly better than the year before, but more than half are still not meeting state standards, according to recently released annual standardized test results. 

While making up some ground, students are still lagging behind pre-pandemic achievement levels. Gov. Gavin Newsom touted the “significant gains” in student test scores at a news conference Thursday morning as he signed new legislation which he says will give teachers critical tools to effectively teach California’s students to read.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Student test scores for the 2024-25 school year show significant continued progress made by K-12 students in literacy, according to the governor's office.

California’s 2025 assessment results show broad gains: the share of students meeting grade-level expectations rose to 70.6% in English language arts (ELA), 61% in mathematics, and 86% in science, while the share scoring at the “minimal” level fell to 29.4% in ELA, 39% in math, and 14% in science.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval of Assembly Bill 1454 on Thursday marks the culmination of a five-year campaign to change how California children are taught to read. But education advocates say there is still much the state needs to do to ensure the state literacy plan is properly implemented, and that school districts and universities are held accountable.

A landmark literacy bill awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature after unanimously passing the Senate floor with a 38-0 vote.

If signed, AB 1454 moves the state one step closer to implementing evidence-based reading instruction in California classrooms — a decades-long, highly contentious state debate.

Of the dozens of wildfire-related bills that legislators were quick to introduce in the wake of the wildfires that ravaged greater Los Angeles in January, roughly half of the ones tracked by Southern California News Group have passed out of the legislature and are awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s signature in order to become law.

Lawmakers struck a deal on legislation that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, giving the bill a big boost and an endorsement from Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of a critical Friday vote in the statehouse. 

In a deal with Uber and Lyft, Gov. Gavin Newsom and several state lawmakers are backing legislation that would allow rideshare drivers to unionize while lowering the insurance threshold for drivers.

The agreement, if approved, would allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to form unions and bargain collectively while still being classified as gig workers, according to supporters ahead of Friday’s vote in Sacramento.

California is by far the largest food producer in the United States. In 2023, our state’s agricultural economy was worth nearly $60 billion. The state’s roughly 63,000 farms grow over a third of all vegetables and around three-quarters of the fruits and nuts produced nationwide.

The lettuce and tomato on your hamburger very likely came from California. The almonds and pistachios you snack on as well. There’s a good chance the olive oil on your pasta is from California. Did you pair that with a glass of wine? Probably California, too.

It’s taken four decades, but using phonics to teach English soon could be state policy. Phonics is where kids are taught a language with a phonetic alphabet by sounding out the letters and separate syllables. Unfortunately, in many schools students still are taught “whole word” reading.” The kids are supposed to recognize a complete word, such as “incomprehensible.”

Needless to say, it’s not working.

WATSONVILLE — Adding 72 new units to Watsonville’s housing stock — almost half of which are reserved for farmworker families — the city celebrated the grand opening of its new Sparrow Terrace apartment complex with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.