Bill Text: CA SB321 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Bill 321

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Literacy: libraries: Local Public Library Partnership Program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 598, Statutes of 2023. [SB321 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB321-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 321

Introduced by Senator Ashby

February 06, 2023

An act relating to literacy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 321, as introduced, Ashby. Literacy: libraries: third grade reading proficiency.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a community college district to contract for the provision of school library services by the county library, as provided. Existing law finds and declares that strong leadership is needed at the local level to improve reading instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, of the public schools.

This bill would make various findings and declarations regarding literacy and would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would require school districts to partner with local libraries for purposes of providing library cards to all pupils in the 3rd grade.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The National Research Council asserts that “academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing a student’s reading skill at the end of third grade. A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader by that time is unlikely to graduate from high school.”

(2) In 2017, California was the first state in the nation to be sued on the grounds that it had denied children’s civil right to literacy under the state constitution. After initially fighting the lawsuit, the state settled the case in February 2020.

(3) Nearly 60 percent of California children do not meet state reading standards by the third grade, and California fourth graders trail the nation in reading, with two-thirds of Black pupils and 61 percent of Latino pupils not reading at grade level.

(4) Seventy-five percent of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school, according to research at Yale University.

(5) Up to ~~half~~ one-half of the printed ~~fourth-grade~~ fourth grade curriculum is incomprehensible to students who read below that grade level, according to the Children’s Reading Foundation.

(6) Students with relatively low literacy achievement tend to have more behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades and higher rates of retention, furthering their educational achievement gap and increasing their risk of dropout.

(7) ~~Nine-four~~ Ninety-four percent of parents say libraries are important for their children and 79 percent describe libraries as “very important.” That is especially true of parents of children under the ~~age of six,~~ six years of age, of whom 84 percent describe libraries as very important.

(8) Eighty-four percent of these parents who say libraries are important say a major reason they want their children to have access to libraries is that libraries help inculcate their children’s love of reading and books.

(9) Eighty-one percent say a major reason libraries are important is because libraries provide their children with information and resources not available at home, such as a book club or program, an education class hosted by the library, the use of free and reliable internet, or the ability to do school work more easily.

(10) Seventy-one percent also say a major reason libraries are important is because libraries are a safe place for children.

(11) In April 2015, then President Barack Obama launched the ConnectED Library Challenge to ensure that all school children have access to the learning resources available in public libraries.

(12) The ConnectED Library Challenge grew out of a belief that more intentional collaboration among chief elected officials, school superintendents, and library directors could improve education outcomes for all students, begin to close achievement gaps, and create a framework for an integrated approach to education.

(13) Sixty communities answered the President’s initial call to action and collectively issued new library cards to more than ~~one million school children~~ 1,000,000 schoolchildren as a direct result of their work on the ConnectED Library Challenge.

(14) These communities created or strengthened partnerships among elected officials, school superintendents, and library directors that provide a foundation for sustained collaboration around shared education goals.

(15) Since 2018, elected officials, school administrators, and library leaders in more than 100 communities worked together through the Leaders Library Card Challenge to help over ~~3 million~~ 3,000,000 students gain library cards and significantly increase their use of library resources.

(16) Issuing library cards to students has fostered stronger family bonds, equipped parents to support their children’s reading progress, encouraged family engagement in school activities, and helped build an at-home culture of reading.

(17) Children who cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate, which can lead to a lifetime of social and economic disadvantages.

(18) Children from low-income families are less likely to have books in their homes.

(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would require school districts to partner with local libraries for purposes of providing library cards to all pupils in the third grade.