Gov. Newsom unveils Golden State Literacy plan at Clinton Elementary, highlights funding and statewide initiatives

Governor Gavin Newsom visited Clinton Elementary School in Compton on a visit focused on early literacy and K‑3 reading initiatives. He announced the Golden State Literacy Plan and described a package of state funding and program expansions intended to increase screening, coaching and instructional supports for California students.

Newsom said the plan includes $28,700,000 to fund a comprehensive literacy screener developed with the University of California San Francisco and $25,000,000 for professional development on the screener, both of which he said will be operational in the fall. He said the state will seek additional funding from the Legislature to expand reading coaches and specialists, and outlined larger investments for early education and expanded learning time, including $2.1 billion for universal transitional kindergarten and an increase in funding intended to reduce TK class sizes; and a $4.4 billion expansion for After School for All and Summer School for All with an additional $435 million in the current budget year to complete the effort.

The governor credited Compton Unified School District for recent improvements in student achievement. “Success leaves clues,” Newsom said, thanking district leaders and Clinton Elementary staff and students for their work. Local leaders who spoke at the event — Mayor Emma Sharif, Principal Susanna Miranda, reading specialist Kim Heesch and Superintendent Dr. Darren Brawley — highlighted district literacy programs and a state reading‑coaches grant that supports local professional learning.

Marshall Tuck, CEO of EdVoice, praised the district’s instruction and urged state policy to back evidence‑based reading instruction and expanded teacher training. “When a child learns to read, they're not just decoding letters on a page. They're learning to dream,” Tuck said. Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, told the governor she welcomed the administration’s emphasis on bilingual supports and English language development, saying the plan recognizes “that literacy is not a one‑dimensional skill.”

Tony Thurmond, California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, said the state’s teacher preparation and credentialing system is being strengthened and noted that grants and regional hubs have expanded professional learning opportunities; he credited the state’s investments with supporting what he described as a “move the needle” strategy for literacy and math.

Newsom described the state’s investments as a response to pandemic learning loss and longstanding gaps in reading proficiency. He cited that California funded 818 school sites with reading‑coach grants and about 3,000 teachers have received related training — figures he used to illustrate statewide uptake of the programs. He also described prior and proposed funding levels: a previous half‑billion dollar investment in learning specialists and a proposed additional half‑billion dollars, plus $200 million the governor said would back professional‑development efforts attached to pending legislation.

Speakers repeatedly framed the initiative as combining screening, coaching, high‑quality instruction, and expanded early‑childhood and extended‑learning time to improve outcomes. Newsom emphasized universal screening for kindergartners through second graders at no charge to districts and said the state is creating 12 regional hubs for literacy teams to scale professional learning.

No formal motions, votes or local legislative actions were recorded during the event. The appearance was an announcement and public event featuring remarks from state and local education leaders and community partners.

The governor took questions at the end of the event and closed by urging attendees to review the step‑by‑step strategy he announced and praising Clinton Elementary and Compton Unified as local examples of the plan’s goals.