Governor Newsom signs AB 14 54 at LAUSD event, highlights $200 million for implementation

Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation referenced in the meeting as "AB 14 54" onstage at Alexander Science Center School in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, an event attended by Los Angeles Unified School District leadership and literacy advocates.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Los Angeles Unified School District, introduced the program and praised the bill, calling it “a bill whose time has come.” He credited early district investments in professional development and instructional tools for recent, statistically notable gains in reading, mathematics and science across grades and student subgroups in LAUSD.

Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, said the bill “reaffirms the state's commitment to help every child build a strong literacy and language skills” and described the measure as preparing educators, aligning instructional materials to the state framework and investing in professional learning for multilingual learners and students with reading challenges.

Marshall Tuck, speaking for EdVoice, said the bill would put materials aligned with scientific research into “every elementary and middle school classroom in this state” and noted the legislation had passed unanimously. "This bill passed unanimously," Tuck said.

Newsom framed the signing as part of a larger set of education investments, noting the state budget included $200,000,000 for implementation of the literacy effort and citing prior investments of roughly $500,000,000 for literacy coaches. He also highlighted other statewide education spending that he said supports students, including investments described at the event for community schools, transitional kindergarten and extended learning.

Speakers at the event pointed to district data showing gains across student groups and grades. Superintendent Carvalho said LAUSD's results showed "double-digit" gains in distance-from-standard measures year over year and that the district has substantially surpassed pre-pandemic achievement levels. Newsom cited 1.8 percent improvement in ELA, 1.8 percent in math and 2 percent in science for the state this year.

The signing is a formal executive action by the governor at a public event. Attendees emphasized that the bill will be implemented through state-led adoption of standards-aligned instructional materials and professional development. Newsom and other speakers tied the law to the state's Golden State literacy efforts and to resources such as literacy coaches and English learner supports; specifics on implementation timelines beyond the funding references were not specified at the event.

Questions from reporters during the event addressed other matters (university reporting and settlements) but did not change the signing or implementation statements about the literacy bill. Officials at the event repeatedly linked the new law to existing state frameworks and plans, including California's English Language Arts and English Language Development Framework and the Golden State literacy plan.

Implementation funding cited at the event included a $200,000,000 appropriation in this year's state budget for the bill's implementation and earlier investments of roughly $500,000,000 for literacy coaches; speakers also described larger dollars devoted to community schools and extended learning. Precise breakdowns of how the new budget appropriation will be allocated at district or school levels were not specified at the event.

The formal signing concludes the legislative process at the executive level in the public ceremony; additional administrative steps, material adoptions and local implementation actions described by speakers remain to be completed.