State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond testified today in the Senate Education Committee about the need for results-proven training for all teachers of reading and math. Thurmond’s testimony was in support of Senate Bill (SB) 1115, which proposes to fund evidence-backed educator training in order to address the urgent need for improved student outcomes across the state. The committee passed the bill after Thurmond’s testimony, and the bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6.

Current efforts to fund educator training in literacy and math are only sufficient to train one-third of California’s educator workforce. SB 1115 would fund the remaining two-thirds. “This is an issue of moral clarity,” said Thurmond. “In the fifth-largest economy in the world, and in an age when we have access to substantial brain science about how students learn, it should be unacceptable to train only some educators in the best strategies to teach essential skills.”

Source: Pushing Results-Proven Training in Literacy, Math – Year 2024 (CA Dept of Education)