Major Investments: 2025-26 Budget Includes Teacher Training in Evidence-Based Reading Instruction and Support for Screening

On June 27, 2025, Governor Newsom signed the 2025-26 Budget, which includes $200 million to be allocated for teacher training in effective means for teaching literacy. 

Effective means for teaching literacy includes,evidence-based means of teaching foundational reading skills, which shall include explicit and systematic instruction in print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency, attending to oral language development, vocabulary and background knowledge, and comprehension, including tiered supports for pupils with reading difficulties, English learners, and pupils with exceptional needs” as stated in the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill, AB 121. See excerpted bill language here. 

This investment in professional development is a long-awaited commitment to CA’s children and is a promise to prioritize their right to read by adequately training teachers in methods based on decades of scientific research. This is a major achievement only made possible by our unwavering grassroots efforts, over many years, to ensure every child in California learns to read. 

Decoding Dyslexia CA thanks Governor Newsom, Speaker Rivas, Assemblymember Rubio, Assemblymember Muratsuchi for their strong leadership and also partners EdVoice, Families in Schools, and California Hawaii State Conference NAACP for their tremendous advocacy.

With teacher training now included in the signed 2025-26 Budget, AB 1454 has been amended to remove the professional development section. 

AB 1454 is continuing its journey through the legislative process with a hearing in the Senate Education Committee set for the morning of Wednesday, July 9th. DDCA and the other Early Literacy Coalition partners will be attending the hearing to show strong support for the bill.  If you would like to join us in Sacramento and be informed of the details as they firm up, please email DecodingDyslexiaCAinfo@gmail.com.  

Lastly, we are thrilled to share that in addition to teacher training in evidence-based reading instruction, the 2025-26 Budget also includes investments to support the implementation of screening for risk of reading difficulties, which is mandated to begin this coming school year. DDCA advocated for years for this requirement, and we are excited to see state resources being dedicated towards its success. The bill allocates the appropriated funds, of $40,000,000, to school districts throughout CA to support screening implementation. See excerpted bill text here.

In addition, $10,000,000 is designated to the California Dyslexia Initiative to contract with the University of California, San Francisco Dyslexia Center towards the expansion and support of a free screening tool designed for California’s diverse pupil population. See excerpted bill text here.

We will continue to provide updates on AB 1454’s journey through the Senate, so please encourage your community – families, educators, and advocates – to sign up for DDCA emails to stay informed of this important bill.

June 30 Deadline is Approaching: Has Your District Selected a Literacy Screener?

The countdown is on. 

By June 30, 2025, every school district in California must select a state-approved screener to identify students at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia. This is not optional – it’s mandated by Senate Bill 114, which was signed into law in 2023. Screening is a critical step toward ensuring early intervention for California’s youngest learners who may have difficulty learning to read.

Beginning in the 2025–26 school year, all districts will be required to screen kindergarten through second-grade students for risk of reading difficulties. That means right now is the time for districts to finalize their implementation plans.

Decoding Dyslexia CA will be collecting data from across the state. Please complete this short survey to let us know what is happening in your district: 

Reading Difficulties Screener Selection Survey 

Further Information and Resources

The California Department of Education released its approved list of screening instruments on December 16, 2024. School districts must choose one or more of these screeners in a public meeting by the June 30 deadline. 

In addition, districts must determine:

  • How and when the screener will be administered,
  • How English learners will be appropriately assessed,
  • And how they will interpret results and provide timely, effective support to students identified as at risk.

To help streamline the screening details, DDCA partnered with The Reading League – CA to create this planning resource:

👉 Reading Difficulties Risk Screener – Implementation Steps for LEAs (infographic)

If you would like more information on the screeners and the mandates of the law, a compilation of recorded webinars can be found here: 

👉 Reading Difficulty Risk Screener [RDRS] – Upcoming Workshops.pptx

Additionally, we’re thrilled Governor Newsom allocated $40 million for teacher training on universal screening in the May Revision of the 2025-26 state budget. This money will be used solely for supporting teachers as they implement this screening law. DDCA has and will continue to advocate for this and additional literacy-focused funding as the budget trailer bill progresses through the Legislature this summer.

Don’t miss this recent coverage on universal screening, featuring personal testimony from DDCA’s State Director Megan Potente: California schools prepare to introduce universal reading screening | EdSource.

Finally, please encourage your community – families, educators, and advocates – to sign up for DDCA emails to stay informed on the movement to transform literacy outcomes in California.

Together, we can ensure the screening law delivers on its promise – and that all California children achieve literacy.