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Newsom boasts ‘significant gains’ in CA K-12 test scores, signs literacy bill

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.

California student scores rise; Newsom advances Rivas’ literacy bill

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.

New law changes how California kids learn to read

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.

Historic California “science of reading” bill heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom

Evidence-based reading teaches students how to read by emphasizing skills like phonics and vocabulary rather than word recognition and memorization

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.

These are the wildfire-related bills the California Legislature OK’d this year

The topics range from home hardening and streamlining building permits to mortgage forbearance and compensating inmate firefighters.

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.

California lawmakers, Lyft and Uber craft deal to allow drivers to unionize

Two bills are expected to move forward Friday, one of which lowers insurance costs for 800,000 drivers.

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.

Wilted Lettuce. Rotten Strawberries. Here’s What Happens When You Round Up Farmworkers.

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.

Nearing the end of the ‘reading wars’

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.