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Committee adopts amendment to require dyslexia training for renewing teachers
Summary
The Minnesota Senate State and Local Government Committee adopted an amendment and recommended Senate File 1842 — a rule-making change to require two hours of dyslexia professional development during teacher license renewal — and referred the bill to education finance.
Senator Bolden and the State and Local Government Committee adopted an amendment to Senate File 18-42 and recommended the bill be referred to Education Finance. The bill would direct the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) to adopt rules requiring licensed teachers who renew their license to complete two hours of professional development on dyslexia.
The measure’s sponsor said the training would cover "the effects of dyslexia on the development of foundational reading skills, effective instructional needs for students with dyslexia, and mental and behavioral health comorbidities for students with dyslexia." Rachel Berger, testifying for the Dyslexia Literacy Coalition, outlined prevalence figures and classroom impacts and urged the committee to support the rule-making change.
"Dyslexia is a learning disability that disrupts how the brain processes written language," Berger said. "According to the National Institute of Child and Human Health Development, dyslexia impacts 17 to 20 percent of the population... That's about 4 to 5 kids in most typical classrooms." Berger told the committee the two-hour professional development would be a one-time requirement during an educator’s five-year license renewal and argued the training should be available at no cost given Minnesota’s existing resources.
Committee discussion focused on the amendment’s effective date. The A1 amendment, described by the sponsor as changing the bill’s effective date to allow more time for implementation for both renewing and first-time teachers, was moved and adopted. The committee’s action concluded with a recommendation to pass the bill and refer it to the Education Finance Committee.
The bill file was identified in testimony as Senate File 18-42 and cross-referenced in testimony with House File 60. The Dyslexia Literacy Coalition listed in testimony includes local organizations such as the Reading Center, Learning Disabilities Association of America, Decoding Dyslexia Minnesota and the International Dyslexia Association. No formal opposition was recorded in the transcript.
