The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Push for dyslexia bill may face uphill battle
Backers say legislation is critical to address the learning disability.
If outgoing State Sen. Fran Millar has his way, Georgia will no longer be among the eight states that have no education policies addressing dyslexia, the learning disability.
Even if Millar, a Dunwoody Republican, can find a sponsor in the upcoming legislative session, some political watchers say it faces an uphill battle. Others are more optimistic. “There’s been lots of support from both parties. There are lots of people ready and willing to carry the banner,” said Heather Bergman Robertson, legislative chair for Decoding Dyslexia, a grass-roots advocacy group.
Supporters say the bill is critical because dyslexia slows learning by disrupting reading abil- ity and comprehension. It is the most common reading disability, affecting 5 percent to 10 percent of the population, accord-
ing to University of Michigan research. And reading proficiency, especially among younger students, is a critical marker to future success in academics and life.
As chairman or member of several education and health-related committees, Millar created the State Senate Study Committee on Dyslexia in March. The goal was to help dyslexic students in Georgia get early diagnosis and remediation. Students with dyslexia can improve with proper teaching methods.
Some federal money is already available. Until 2016, the federal government did not earmark education funds for dyslexia. Then President Barack Obama signed the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act (the READ Act), requiring the National Science Foundation to devote a minimum of $250 million for dyslexia research, teacher training and development of effective instructional methods. Because federal definitions of learning disabilities that qualify students for services do not define dyslexia or its underlying conditions or services that ought to be provided, many states have adopted their own laws, definitions and screening programs.
Earlier this year, the Southern Regional Education Board published an analysis of the dyslexia policies among the 16 states that it represents. Two, Georgia and Delaware, have no dyslex- ia-focused legislation. Two others, West Virginia and Mississippi, have some pol- icies, but none for teacher training. Oklahoma and West Virginia have no processes for identification of the disorder or intervention.
“It’s important for the students to get that early diagnosis,” said Samantha Durrance, an SREB policy analyst. “The earlier, the better. In 2017, only 34 percent of students (in Georgia) were reading at the basic level.”
A brief prepared by SREB called “Addressing the Needs of Struggling Young Readers,” also calls for early intervention and teacher train- ing. “There hasn’t been a lot of new legislation in the last three to four years,” said Durrance, “But our research shows that putting these policies in place can reduce the number of children at risk for continued reading diffi- culties by 5 percent.”
At its past meeting, the Georgia Senate study com- mittee recommended:
■ The University System of Georgia develop and offer a dyslexia and language disor- ders course of study;
■ The state fund screening for kindergarten students as well as screening for primary reading and language skills for all unscreened outof-state transfer students in second grade and younger;
■ The state Department of Education create a dyslexia handbook and teacher train- ing program; and
■ The Georgia Professional Standards Commission create a dyslexia endorsement for teachers and staff that would qualify them to screen for the learning disorder and train and support others.
Barbara Neisch said the recommendations sounded like music to her ears. Her 9-year-old son, David, has had trouble reading from early on, but she said it was hard to get educators and administrators to recognize it.
“He’s such a good kid and really loves school,” she said. “He was smart enough to memorize some words, but he really wasn’t understand- ing what he read.”
That lead Neisch to ques- tion kindergarten report cards that showed David was reading at grade level. She knew he struggled. The teachers insisted that his issue was focus, and as he matured, it wouldn’t be a problem.
In first grade, David was placed in a reading recovery program, and the reports showed he was at a satisfactory level. But Neisch was a volunteer at the school and she saw that her son was having a tough time. The Neisches moved him to private school for the second semester and paid to have him tested for learning disabilities.
“They wouldn’t call it dys- lexia at first. They said he had a specific learning disabil- ity,” said Neisch. But when evaluators finally equated the disability to dyslexia, Neisch said she was frightened.
“It’s a scary label. We didn’t want him to feel bad about himself,” she said. “We had to explain to him that it had nothing to do with intelligence.”
The smaller class size at the private school with more individualized attention helped. And David began seeing a tutor trained in the Orton-Gillingham method, perhaps the most-recom- mended program for teaching dyslexic people to read.
The Neisches thought David was missing the social- ization of a larger school, so they put him back in Gwinnett County PublicSchools. His reading is progressing. The Neisches have continued meeting with teachers and administrators to work out the details of their son’s education plan.
“If this has taught me anything, it’s go with your gut,” said Neisch. “Every year that your child doesn’t get the right instruction, it takes two years to catch up.”
That’s why she says a bill like the one proposed by Millar’s committee is so import- ant.
Neisch believes not everyone has the time, money and energy it took to just get her son diagnosed.
“It shouldn’t be this hard,” she said.
With Millar no longer in the Senate, a champion for the bill must have a similar level of influence. Committee members Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, and Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, have vowed to fight for the measure.
Millar said he believes it has a chance to pass because it’s critical to the state to achieve a higher rate of students reading on grade level by third grade.
Stephen Pruitt, S REB president, said, “Of course reading on grade level is important in general, but third grade is when students make the leap from learning to read to reading to learn.”
“Education is the key to getting out of poverty,” he said. “Approaching it from a systematic focus on children and their needs can bring about success.”
But every legislator believes his or her bill is important, said political analyst Bill Crane.
“Resources aren’t unlimited,” he said. “Millar has a history of niche legislation, and it will need him working it to get to get this bill passed.”
Crane cited school safety as a broader education issue that has a better chance of becoming law.
The state has already allocated $16 million for school safety and may well put more into it. Mill ar estimates dyslexia screening will cost about $8 per child which will come to $1 million.
“It doesn’t have to be either or,” said Millar. “With a $25 billion budget, the state can fund both.”
No matter what happens in the 2019 session, dyslexia advocates say any exposure is a plus.
“Lots of people compare this issue to autism. Before it was brought to the forefront, there wasn’t a lot of knowledge about it,” said Robertson. “Dyslexia can have a similar outcome. The Department of Education is willing to do what needs to be done. They just need authority from the General Assembly.”