Members of the Senate education committee sparred today over an amendment that would give teachers extra training on teaching students with dyslexia. The amendment eventually failed by two votes in the 22-member committee.
The amendment would not mandate that federal funding go towards extra training, but would allow states and local school districts, if they so choose, to use federal funds on training toward identifying dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities. Its critics argued that all disabilities, not just specific learning disabilities, should get the support the amendment called for. For example, autism and attention-deficit disorder do not fall under the category of specific learning disabilities.
“It is about getting children with a specific diagnosis the right services as early as possible,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in response to criticism the amendment would create special privileges for dyslexic students. Cassidy was the amendment’s sponsor. “Does anyone really think that a child with dyslexia, who struggles to read, write, and spell through no fault of their own, feels privileged? The irony is palpable.”
Cassidy said wealthy families can afford to pay private school tuition to help dyslexic students and that the amendment was for middle-class and lower-class families.
The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., spoke in opposition to the amendment. She listed national groups that opposed the amendment, including the National PTA, National Down Syndrome Society and others. The National Education Association, the largest individual union in the country, also opposed the amendment.
“This amendment actually sends the message that this committee cares more about the education of one group of students with disabilities more than others,” Murray said in opposition. “It sets a new precedent of singling out one of the thirteen categories of students with disabilities in providing professional development to our teachers.”
Dyslexics are 80 percent of students with learning disabilities, 17.5 percent of the population, and up to half of students reading below grade level, Cassidy said in response. He then listed off several groups in support of the amendment: the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity and Decoding Dyslexia.
“We may decide, ‘Heck, I don’t care about those families. Somehow we’re going to be guided by special interest groups.’ I think we should be more motivated about the needs of that child,” Cassidy said.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also spoke in opposition and said the amendment would create a preference for dyslexia over other disabilities. Cassidy countered and said that dyslexia had been ignored, pointing out there are only three charter schools in the country that cater to dyslexic students.
The issue is personal to Cassidy, whose daughter is dyslexic. He and his wife helped create a charter school for dyslexic students in Baton Rouge, La., and his wife now serves as president on its board.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions was working through amendments to an education reform bill that would be the largest education overhaul since No Child Left Behind was signed in 2002.
