Education Shapes Everything…
from economic mobility and health outcomes to the innovation ecosystem and civic engagement. Strong public schools are the foundation of opportunity—but too many of our students are being left behind.
Policies for improving student outcomes
We need an education system that puts students, and their success, first. This means recruiting, retaining, supporting and promoting good teachers. It means ensuring that our kids have state-of-the-art curricula that reflect the best science on how kids learn. And it means weaving together local decision-making with accountability for providing our kids the education they deserve.
How We Solve CA's Education Crisis
Our kids deserve excellent teachers
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Use tenure to reward good teachers.
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Provide resources to support teacher growth.
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Make it easier to remove bad employees.
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Teachers deserve to be paid in line with the importance of their profession on our children’s future.
Every child in California should be reading by the end of fourth grade
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WIN: Thanks to 21CA advocacy and leadership from our friends at EdVoice, in the 2024-5 school year California joins 40 other states in screening children early for signs of reading challenges.
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Every child should have access to curriculum grounded in the scientific consensus around how kids learn to read.
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Every teacher should be guaranteed the best available training in teaching literacy.
Families should have at least two public school options available in all but the smallest communities​
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School options should not be a privilege reserved for those wealthy enough to move, or to choose private school.
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District schools and charter schools can both be viable options.​
The best education systems have oversight
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CA should fund and fully implement a cradle-to-career data system that allows us to understand what works in education, and what does not.
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CA should systematically evaluate state–level education programming, with funds reallocated from underperforming programs.
Bill Spotlight: AB 1454 — The California Kids Read Act
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California is facing a literacy crisis. Nearly 60% of students aren't reading at grade level by third grade — a critical milestone that shapes their future success in school and beyond. AB 1454 (Rivas), the California Kids Read Act, is a bipartisan effort to change that. The bill will ensure that all California students have access to the best available evidence-based literacy curricula, and will provide training to allow teachers to effectively leverage those curricula. AB 1454 is the fruit of a multi-year effort by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, in partnership with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
What AB 1454 Would Do
AB 1454 is a straightforward, powerful solution: Use curricula based on the best available neuroscience and social science research on how kids learn, and give educators the support they need to deliver the instruction effectively. States like Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee have implemented similar approaches — and they’ve seen student outcomes soar.
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