ARTICLE 10. California Student Author Program [54800. - 54804.]

Cal. Education Code - EDC 10.

in effect

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 54800. Section 54800.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The trend of low-income youth struggling to become proficient in reading and writing is a narrative that is passed down from era to era. (b) According to The Literacy Project, there are currently 45 million Americans who are functionally illiterate and unable to read above a 5th grade level. In California, 25 percent of the state’s 6 million pupils are unable to perform basic reading skills. (c) According to the organization DoSomething.org, nearly 85 percent of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. (d) Over half of California pupils failed to meet English standards based on Spring 2017 standardized test results, a performance that remained essentially flat compared to the previous year. (e) About 49 percent of pupils statewide met or exceeded English standards on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress in 2017, which is administered to public school pupils at certain grade levels each year. The same proportion of California pupils met English standards in 2016. (f) For decades, generational illiteracy has hindered the careers, futures, and hopes of many pupils and their families.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 54801. Section 54801.

There is hereby established the California Student Author Program to accomplish all of the following for public schoolage children from extremely low-income communities: (a) Improve English language skills. (b) Improve academic performance. (c) Build healthy relationships with the community. (d) Equip participants with critical life skills. (e) Promote positive life choices. (f) Increase literacy, reading, and writing among program participants.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 54802. Section 54802.

(a) Any organization that is a grant recipient pursuant to Section 54804 shall implement the literacy program described in this section in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years. (b) A grant recipient shall provide the literacy program described in this section to public schoolage children who are eligible for free and reduced cost lunch. (c) A grant recipient shall establish a student author program to provide the participants an opportunity to write, edit, and promote a short story or other forms of literature. A grant recipient should provide regular, sequential student author workshops that parallel or complement school calendars, such as quarterly, semester, or summer and vacation-intensive programs that include, but are not limited to, the following components: (1) Writing and editing, including instruction in the skills necessary for creative writing. (2) Publishing an anthology. (3) Marketing, media, and community relations, including instruction in book brand development and entrepreneurship. (4) Individual and group presentations. (5) Community-based book signing events. (d) Grant recipients are expected to implement programming that does all of the following: (1) Fosters critical thinking in student authors. (2) Teaches students to practice effective problem solving. (3) Instructs students on creating an outline for their writing project. (4) Teaches students to develop promotional and advertising tools. (5) Provides students with an understanding of how to create a literary character and an engaging plot. (e) A grant recipient shall collect and provide to the California State Library, on a reporting schedule set by the California State Library, any information sought by the library, including achieving the outcomes listed in Section 54801 and the reporting data described in Section 54803.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 54803. Section 54803.

(a) Not later than January 1, 2022, the California State Library shall report to the Legislature on the outcomes of the California Student Author Program. The report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following information: (1) The extent to which the project accomplished the outcomes described in Section 54801. (2) Demographic data about program participants, disaggregated by race, gender, foster youth, and English learners. (b) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (a) is inoperative on January 1, 2026, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code. (2) The report prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 54804. Section 54804.

(a) (1) The California State Library shall provide grant awards for purposes of this article to nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and local educational entities that have demonstrated experience in providing similar literacy programs to children in extremely low-income communities. (2) The California State Library shall select grant recipients for the California Student Author Program with the participation goal of at least 1,000 public schoolage students, cumulatively, over the course of the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years. (b) A grant recipient shall use the funds awarded pursuant to this article only for the purposes described in this article. (c) The California State Library may use up to 3 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this article for administrative costs.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026