Members of the Senate Education and Youth Committee got their first look at a bill aimed at identifying and supporting students with dyslexia, but were told by the bill sponsor that more changes are on the way.
The proposed legislation is being sponsored by the committee chair, Sen. P.K. Martin (R-Lawrenceville). As proposed, SB 48 requires a universal dyslexia screening in kindergarten and would provide for dyslexia training for pre-service and existing Georgia educators.
However, as discussion began on the bill, Martin announced that a substitute bill is being written and no vote would be taken in the meeting. He also stated that the bill would be subject to funding.
Representatives from the Southern Region Education Board (SREB) and Decoding Dyslexia Georgia spoke on the bill, as did a number of parents of dyslexic students.
The proposed legislation came out of the Senate Study Committee on Dyslexia which recently adopted three recommendations aimed at helping the state better inform teachers on how to help dyslexic students and to better identify dyslexic students at an early age. One of those recommendations would require all kindergarten students be screened. The recommendations also included screening students in grades K-2 who have transferred from a different school or state.
The study committee also recommended that screeners should be approved by the Georgia Department of Education, funded by the state and conducted by teachers or support staff including school nurses, psychologists and speech and language pathologists.
Another recommendation that came out of the study committee said the Georgia Department of Education should provide an informational handbook on dyslexia, reading and language disorders for the public to gain an understanding on dyslexia and similar disorders with information provided by dyslexia and language experts.
