Month: March 2019

Bulletin: Utah Extends Dyslexia Program

Utah has passed a law extending its school dyslexia program until 2024. For more information, see Utah Intervention for Reading Difficulties Program.

New Mexico -2019 - SB 398 - Dyslexic Student Early Interventions

Outline map of New Mexico

Requires screening and early intervention for dyslexia. Requires each school district to develop and implement a literacy professional development plan that includes structured literacy training by a licensed and accredited or credentialed teacher preparation provider for all elementary school teachers and for training in evidence-based reading intervention for reading interventionists and special education teachers working with students demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia or diagnosed with dyslexia.

We did it - this Texas Bill was stopped

Update: On May 20 the State Senate passed a substitute bill with several changes to the House Bill, including removal of the section regarding dyslexia licensing. The Senate Committee Substitute and the Conference Committee Report for HB 2847 do not contain provisions that would change dyslexia licensing requirements in Texas. We want to acknowledge and thank the many Texas parents and educators who took the time to make their objections known in advance of the Senate Committee hearings.

Why we were concerned: The language contained in this proposed law would have forced learning centers throughout Texas to shut down, and would have forced many private tutors to give up their work. It would also have placed burdens on homeschoolers and other parents working with their own dyslexic children. The bill was written by Texas Representative Miller and initially introduced as HB 3244. After HB 3244 failed to progress in committee, Rep. Miller added its provisions to a different bill, HB 2847, as a floor amendment, allowing its passage in a hurried setting without hearing or debate.

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Texas - 2019 - HB 2847 - Prohibition of Unlicensed Dyslexia Services

State of Texas

Update: The Dyslexia Amendment has been removed from HB 2847 during the Senate Committee Hearing Process. The Senate Committee Substitute and the Conference Committee report no longer contain any provisions that would impact or change dyslexia services or licensing in Texas.

HB 3244 2847 as currently previously written would have outlawed the provision of private services for dyslexia of any kind except by persons licensed as multisensory structured language education (MSLE) therapists. We are strongly opposed to any law that would impose unprecedented state licensing requirements on providers of services for dyslexia. Fortunately these provisions were removed from the final version of the bill.

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