Fresno County faces many important challenges. We talk about economic development, public safety, workforce readiness and creating opportunities for families. But if we are honest with ourselves, there is one issue at the center of all of it — literacy.
If our children cannot read, nothing else works the way it should.
Today, more than half of our students are not reading at grade level. In 2025, approximately 57% of Fresno County third graders were not proficient readers. That should alarm every parent, educator, employer and community leader. Reading is not simply another academic benchmark. It is the foundation upon which every other subject and every future opportunity is built.
And yet, our county’s average progress has been moving at roughly one percentage point per year. Our children cannot wait at that pace. This is not simply an education problem. It is a community problem.
As leaders across Fresno have recognized, when children struggle early, the effects reach far beyond the classroom. Literacy affects graduation rates, workforce readiness, economic mobility and even public safety. Children who do not master reading by third grade face steeper odds throughout their educational journey. When students fall behind early, catching up becomes increasingly difficult.
The stakes are too high to accept incremental progress.
Recently, a landmark statewide analysis highlighted persistent achievement challenges across California and reinforced something many educators already know: meaningful improvement requires urgency, a return to evidence-based practices, and leadership willing to act decisively.
We only have to look in our own backyard to see what success looks like.
Recently, 108 school districts across nearly 14,000 public school districts nationwide were recognized as “Districts on the Rise” for achieving significant gains in reading and math despite serving students facing considerable challenges. Of the eleven districts in California that earned this distinction, two are right here in Fresno County: Kings Canyon Joint Unified and Sanger Unified.
Think about that.
Our own schools are demonstrating that demographics do not determine destiny.
These districts serve students facing real barriers, including poverty and language challenges, yet they are proving that with strong systems, effective instruction, committed educators, and clear leadership, children succeed.
And Fresno County has other examples as well. Districts like Clovis Unified have demonstrated over many years the importance of building sustainable systems that deliver consistent results.
These examples matter because they tell us something important: this work is possible. The challenge before us is scale.
That’s why, according to the research, the county office of education matters more than many previously understood. With strong leadership and the right support, we can partner with our district superintendents to scale up what is working in a handful of districts and extend it across Fresno County.
California’s new Golden State Literacy Plan gives us a historic opportunity. Through major literacy reforms and significant state investment in educator training and evidence-based reading practices, we finally have a roadmap. We now have the research. We have the tools. We have examples of success.
What we cannot afford is inaction.
County offices of education should help districts identify and replicate what works, support educators with proven instructional strategies, help build systems that last, and ensure accountability around student outcomes.
This moment demands urgency because every year we delay means another class of children moves through the system without the reading foundation they deserve.
This election is about more than choosing a candidate. It is about deciding whether Fresno County intends to lead or settle for slow progress while our students fall further behind.
I believe Fresno County can become a model for California. I believe we can become a “county on the rise.”
But believing is not enough.
We must act.
Our children are counting in us to get this right. Let’s not make them wait any longer.
Dr. Eimear O’Brien is former superintendent of Clovis Unified School District, and is running for Fresno County superintendent of schools.