More than half of California's students are reading below grade level, report card says

More than half of California's students are reading below grade level, according to a survey that assessed third-grade reading performance in nearly 300 school districts.

The California Reading Coalition released its report card earlier this month, which ranks the state near the bottom on national tests, but there are some bright spots locally.

The Bonita Unified School District in Los Angeles County was ranked No. 1 on the list, with 64% of the district's students meeting or exceeding grade level reading.

Covina-Valley Unified, Little Lake City Elementary and Whittier City Elementary also made the top 10, along with Etiwanda Elementary in San Bernardino.

Overall, the Los Angeles Unified School District was ranked 133.

The state has 1,000 school districts in total, but not all of them were included in the report, which used data from the California Assessment of Students Performance and Progress third grade English Language Arts test.

The report focused on school districts that served more than 100 socio-economically disadvantaged Hispanic third graders, which make up 43% of the state's K-12 student population.

"These kids, more than any other kids, are dependent on school to learn to read," Todd Collins, one of CA Reads' organizers, told the Sacramento Bee.