Executive Summary:
2023 Report to the Fiscal Committees of the Legislature, Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the Department of Finance on the Reading and Literacy Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program
This report provides an update on the Reading and Literacy Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program (Reading and Literacy Program) and presents the 2022-23 Annual Report to the Legislature, as required by statute (181 SEC. 126, Stats 2022). This is the first report for the Reading and Literacy Program first funded in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the legislature approved the sum of $15 million for the Reading and Literacy Program. This grant program provides one-time grant awards up to $2,500 per participant, with a required 100-percent match of grant funding, to support credentialed teachers in adding a Reading and Literacy Added Authorization (RLAA), or a Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist (RLLS) Credential. Priority will be given to eligible grant applicants for teachers that provide instruction at an eligible schoolsite. Eligible schoolsites are the highest 10-percent in the state with unduplicated pupils that are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, classified as English language learners, or that are foster youth. Any local education agencies (LEAs) that successfully apply to the competitive grant may use these funds to support tuition, fees, books, and/or release time. This funding is available for encumbrance until June 20, 2027.
To date, the grant program has not published the Request for Application (RFA). Per legislation, “The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop a list of eligible schoolsites, and provide that list to the commission no later than September 1, 2022, for purposes of administering the program.” The California Commission on Teacher Credentialling (Commission) and the California Department of Education (CDE) signed a memorandum of understanding on March 29, 2023. The Commission anticipates releasing the application April 14, 2023, pending receipt of the list of priority eligible schoolsites from the CDE.
April 2023