SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom, who wrote a book about his own struggle with dyslexia, intends to steer more money through the state budget toward screenings for the condition, as well as additional funding for early education, he told The Sacramento Bee in an interview.
Newsom struggled through school because of his dyslexia, but credits his ultimate success to his mother’s efforts to diagnose him at a young age and enroll him in special after-school and summer-school programs.
He says the benefits of screening more young kids and intervening early, something dyslexia experts say is essential, could be wide ranging. On a recent visit to Valley State Prison, Newsom asked a group of inmates if they knew what dyslexia was. He said several laughed in recognition. One, an older man in a wheelchair, said he didn’t learn to read until he got to prison.
“How many other kids have this, but how many other kids didn’t get that help?” Newsom said. “I was just blessed to get that help.”
In his nearly three years as governor, Newsom has steered more than $18 million in state funds to research and programs for early screening for dyslexia, as well as additional money to train teachers to help dyslexic students. But Newsom says the programs he’s funded aren’t far enough along to show the results he wants.
“I feel inadequate on this,” Newsom said. “I’ve been cautious. I haven’t done what I wanted to do at the level of scale yet, because I feel it’s a little too self-indulgent.”
By 2023, the Democratic governor hopes an early screening tool developed by a group of scientists working with the University of California San Francisco will be deployed at schools across the state. Studies have estimated that 7-20% of people could have some level of dyslexia, Newsom said. Helping them early could pay dividends when those kids enter the workforce with the full strength of their abilities, he argues.
That’s one of the major inspirations behind the children’s book he wrote, which comes out Tuesday, he said.
The book centers on the protagonist Ben’s struggle to read and the strength he finds playing baseball, a sport that played a big role in Newsom’s life, too.
The future governor had planned to go to community college, but instead attended Santa Clara University on a partial baseball scholarship of $500 during his first term, according to a copy of his financial aid record provided to The Sacramento Bee. An elbow injury prevented him from playing much in college, spokesman Nathan Click said, but Newsom credits the scholarship with getting him into the school in the first place.
In many parts of Newsom’s life, his dyslexia still hampers him, such as when he has to give speeches from a teleprompter or when he tries to read to his kids.
“It doesn’t go away,” he said. “It’s with you forever.”
But in other areas, Newsom describes his dyslexia as a gift. As an entrepreneur starting a wine business in San Francisco, he says seeing the world differently gave him a competitive advantage. He also points to his visual memory, which aides describe as nearly photographic, as another gift from his dyslexia. Speaking from his office over Zoom, he read from his own dyslexia screening report from 1973, when he would have been about 5 years old.
“‘Above average visual memory,’” he read from the report. “I still have that.”
He said he hopes his book, titled “Ben and Emma’s Big Hit,” allows kids with dyslexia to see their own hidden talents. He also hopes it will help parents looking to broach the topic with their kids, something he’s tried to do with his own four children. “A number of them” also struggle with reading, he said.
He declined to give specific details about his 2022-23 budget proposal, which is due in January, but said it will aim to help kids who “start behind,” as he did. He’ll be aided in his efforts by a projected surplus, which the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates could total $31 billion.
“We did a lot more last year than we did the prior year, and this year’s budget’s gonna see a hell of a lot more, forgive my language,” he said.
He also said he would be expanding literacy programs through First 5, a state program that provides services to kids ages 0-5.
Newsom’s critics have blasted his education policies, particularly during the COVID-19 school shutdowns, which they argued hurt California children, particularly those with learning disabilities. His leading challenger in the recall election earlier this year, conservative radio personality Larry Elder, ran in part on reforming California’s education system.
Since then, multiple ballot measures have been proposed that aim to make it easier for parents to put their children in private schools.
Newsom says he disagrees with those strategies, but said the underlying criticism — that California’s education system isn’t good enough — is fair.
“They’re not wrong in many respects about their critique,” he said. “We have to do better. It’s not just about spending more money, though that’s important. But it’s also about re-imagining public education to address the needs, challenges that are persistent, and the gaps, particularly for the African American and Latino community.”
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