California Got Dyslexia Screening Right. What Happens After Is the Harder Question.
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Every parent of a struggling reader in California has heard some version of this sentence: “Let’s wait and see.” For years, that wait came without any reliable tool for knowing what to watch for. That changed July 9, 2026, when Governor Newsom signed AB 126 — allocating $2.4 billion for special education, the largest such investment in California history — with one line item that stands out from every other: $5 million to make dyslexia screening free for every K-2 student in the state. The screener is the right investment. The harder question is what California schools are required to do once a child screens positive.
TL;DR
Governor Newsom signed AB 126 on July 9, 2026, allocating $2.4 billion for special education — a 43 percent increase raising per-student funding from $999 to $1,340.
$5 million in ongoing funding makes the UCSF Multitudes dyslexia screener free for all California K-2 students — the most precisely evidence-targeted item in the package.
$80 million targets extraordinary-cost students; $30 million funds the Supporting Inclusive Practices Project, which moves students with disabilities into general education environments.
A positive screen requires a follow-up intervention; parents should ask what reading program their school uses and whether it is structured, systematic, and explicit.
For students above second grade, the per-student rate increase gives districts more resources at all levels — but allocation is a district decision parents should actively track.
California’s AB 126 opens the door to earlier identification for thousands of students who struggle with reading. Here is what parents most need to know.
Common questions
What is the Multitudes screener and does my child need it?
Multitudes is a brief online assessment developed by UCSF’s Dyslexia Center over four years with more than 15,000 California students. California law requires all public schools to screen K-2 students for reading difficulties starting in the 2025-26 school year, and AB 126 makes Multitudes free for schools. If your child is in K-2 in a California public school, ask whether they have been screened and what the result was. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations such as an IEP or 504 plan, or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical concern, pursue a professional evaluation — that is the only route to those supports.
If my child screens positive for reading risk, what should the school offer?
A positive screen should trigger a structured literacy intervention — systematic, explicit, phonics-grounded instruction that research consistently shows works for students who struggle with reading. Ask specifically what program the school will use. If the answer involves guessing from context, pictures, or “balanced literacy” approaches, ask again. The IDA’s 2025 definition identifies early intervention as the highest-leverage window; the intervention has to be evidence-based for that window to matter.
Does this funding help my child if they are in third grade or older?
The screener investment targets K-2. The per-student rate increase — from $999 to $1,340 — gives districts more resources at all grade levels, but where those resources go is a district decision. Ask your school whether reading specialists serving older struggling students are trained in structured literacy methods, and whether the support your child receives is building the underlying reading skill or substituting for the expectation that it gets built.
What is the difference between “inclusive practices” funding and actual reading support?
The $30 million Supporting Inclusive Practices Project funds schools in moving students with disabilities into general education classrooms — a separate goal from dyslexia-specific, structured reading intervention. Inclusion done well benefits all students. For a child who needs intensive, explicit reading instruction, the critical question is whether inclusion comes alongside a specialized reading program or replaces one. Ask your child’s school which it is.
Governor Newsom signed AB 126 on July 9, raising California’s special education per-student funding from $999 to $1,340 — a 43 percent increase and the largest such investment in state history. The budget includes $80 million in ongoing funding for the special education extraordinary cost pool, which covers high-cost student needs; $30 million for the Supporting Inclusive Practices Project, which funds schools in moving students with disabilities into general education environments; and $5 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funding for Sacramento County Office of Education to partner with UCSF’s Dyslexia Center to expand the Multitudes screener statewide — at no cost to schools.
“I’ve heard directly from parents across California: their kids need more, and they deserve better,” Newsom said at the signing. The governor, who overcame dyslexia as a child, called it “the largest investment in special education in California’s history.”
“This historic $2.4 billion increase is the largest investment of its kind in state history and reinforces that our students in Special Education are seen and valued,” said Senator Sasha Renee Perez (D-Pasadena), Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
Author Quote"
I’ve heard directly from parents across California: their kids need more, and they deserve better. These actions answer that call. Today, we are making record investments in special education, to build a stronger system that gives every child the opportunity to succeed and leaves California’s schools better than we found them.
"
What the coverage gets wrong
Most reporting on AB 126 leads with the dollar amount and Governor Newsom’s personal dyslexia story, framing $2.4 billion as unambiguously good news. That frame is incomplete. The $5 million for UCSF’s Multitudes screener is the most evidence-specific item in the package, and the most useful question for a parent is what schools are required to do after a positive screen. The IDA’s 2025 definition identifies early intervention as the highest-leverage window for kids with reading difficulties — but the intervention has to be evidence-based for that window to matter. Spending on general education inclusion programs is politically popular and sometimes beneficial, but it is not the same as funding structured literacy instruction. Both the real progress and the open question deserve equal coverage.
The Screener Is the Right Move. What Comes After Is Where This Gets Hard.
The $5 million for the Multitudes screener is the most precisely targeted item in the entire package. UCSF’s Dyslexia Center developed it over four years with more than 15,000 California students. It identifies reading risk in K-2 — exactly the window the IDA’s 2025 definition identifies as when “language and literacy support is particularly effective.” California law already requires K-2 screening, and making Multitudes free removes the most common barrier for under-resourced schools. That is the right call.
But a screener is worth exactly as much as the intervention it triggers. The research is settled on this: the right support at the right moment lifts struggling learners more than anything else. The wrong support — or inclusion placed in front of actual reading instruction — removes the incentive to build the underlying skill. That is what parents need to watch for as districts decide how to spend the rest of this money. For a deeper look at what evidence-based dyslexia support actually involves, see Learning Success’s dyslexia resource.
The $30 million for the “Supporting Inclusive Practices Project” — which funds schools in moving students with disabilities into general education classrooms — is where parents of struggling readers should pay the most attention. Inclusion done well means every child gets evidence-based instruction in a supportive environment. Inclusion done poorly means removing a child who needs intensive, explicit, structured reading instruction from the specialized program that was delivering it and placing that child in a general education setting that uses the same approach that already failed them. These are different outcomes, and $30 million does not specify which one California is purchasing.
Key Takeaways:
1
Free K-2 dyslexia screening statewide: The $5 million for UCSF’s Multitudes screener is the most evidence-specific item in California’s $2.4 billion special education package — making early reading-risk identification free for every K-2 public school student in the state.
2
A screener opens the door; intervention is what matters: The IDA’s 2025 definition identifies early support as the highest-leverage window for reading difficulties. What schools offer after a positive screen determines whether that window actually closes the gap.
3
Inclusion without instruction is not support: The $30 million Supporting Inclusive Practices Project funds moving students into general education environments — a separate goal from structured literacy intervention. Parents should ask whether inclusion comes alongside a specialized reading program or replaces one.
Three Questions Every California Parent Should Ask Their School
If your child is in kindergarten through second grade in a California public school, ask whether they have been screened and with which tool. If your school uses Multitudes or another state-approved screener and your child screens positive, ask immediately: what reading program does the school’s intervention use? The evidence-based answer involves structured, systematic, explicit instruction — not guessing from pictures or context, which decades of research consistently shows trains struggling readers to look like they are reading without actually becoming readers.
If your child is older, the screener investment will not reach them directly. The per-student rate increase gives districts more resources at all grade levels, but where those resources go is a district decision. Ask whether reading specialists serving older struggling readers are trained in structured literacy methods — and whether the support your child receives is building the underlying skill or substituting for the expectation that it gets built.
Newsom’s personal connection to dyslexia makes this investment feel different from a press release. Whether it becomes transformative depends on what districts do at the classroom level — and whether parents are informed enough to ask the right questions.
Author Quote"
This state budget contains record funding for Special Education to better serve students with disabilities and ensure that families have access to the support services they need. This historic $2.4 billion increase is the largest investment of its kind in state history and reinforces that our students in Special Education are seen and valued.
"
The parents who change outcomes are the ones asking the hard question after the screener: “What evidence-based reading program will you use?” The system that gets in the way is the one that points to a dollar amount as the answer when the real answer is what structured instruction actually reaches your child’s classroom. California took a meaningful step on July 9. The next step belongs to you. If the screener opens a door and you do not know what is on the other side, Learning Success All Access gives you the multi-system assessment and the tools to build the skills the screener identified — before the school year moves past the moment. Start here.
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