Kingfisher’s state lawmakers were instrumental in authoring and advancing key pieces of legislation last week. House Majority Leader

House Majority Leader Mike Sanders passed three bills in the House, two addressing the needs of students with dyslexia and a third of a bill that would require the State Department of Education to employ a team of reading specialists to support Oklahoma public elementary schools in implementing the requirements of the Reading Sufficiency Act.

House Bill 2804 would require screening for dyslexia for kindergarten through third grade students not reading on grade level beginning in the 2022-23 school year and HB 2889 makes the State Department of Education responsible for updating the Dyslexia Handbook annually.

HB 2804 passed the House by a vote of 92-1. HB2889 passed with a vote of 89-0.“This is going to be a game changer for our struggling readers,” Sanders said. “Research is clear that when students who struggle with dyslexia get early support and the proper learning tools, they often go on to be very successful in school. This will improve the lives of these students and their families, which in turn benefits our classrooms and all of society.”

Sanders worked on the two bills with fellow lawmakers, House Education Committee Chair Rep. Rhonda Baker (R-Yukon) and Rep. Kelly Albright (D-Midwest City), both teachers. Albright and Rep. Sherrie Conley (R-Newcastle), also a teacher, and Rep. Tammy Townley (R-Ardmore) are House co-authors of HB 2804. Townley and Rep. Dean Davis (R-Broken Arrow) are House co-authors of HB2889.

“Students with dyslexia and their teachers will benefit in new ways from this early screening,” Baker said. “Parents and teachers already are benefiting from the information included in the outstanding Dyslexia Handbook available through the State Department of Education website. This legislation will help not only improve the lives and learning of these students, it will boost literacy rates in all of our schools.”

“As a traditionally certified and comprehensively trained teacher, I was not prepared to meet the needs of my students with dyslexia in my classroom,” Albright said. “No longer will students with dyslexia be left behind, because teachers will be given the tools to address their needs and help teach the essential skill of learning to read.

“Students with dyslexia have a high rate of creative thinking and high intelligence, but often endure the daily despair of being unequipped to read, which can be devastating. I can’t wait to see the heights our students with dyslexia will reach with this legislation in place.”

HB 2804 would require any student enrolled in kindergarten through third grade in an Oklahoma public school who is not meeting grade-level targets in reading after the beginning of the school year, to be screened for dyslexia beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.

The measure requires the State Board of Education to develop policies for dyslexia screening, and to adopt a list of approved qualified dyslexia screening tools. The bill also requires school districts to provide the State Department of Education with data about dyslexia, including the number of students screened for dyslexia each year, the number of students identified, and the process used to evaluate students.

Last year, Sanders secured passage of HB 1228, which provides a professional development day for teachers across Oklahoma to help them better recognize signs of dyslexia in their students. Adding screening through HB 2804 was the logical next step, he said.

HB 2889 requires the State Department of Education to maintain the Dyslexia Handbook created by the Dyslexia and Education Task Force. The department is required to review and make revisions to the handbook annually with stakeholders. The handbook already is available for teachers, parents and school administrators through the SDE. Sanders said this just puts in statute that it will be annually updated by the SDE with input from stakeholders.

Sanders said all of the legislation was a recommendation by the Dyslexia and Education Task Force and the SDE as well as Decoding Dyslexia Oklahoma.

“Early identification of risk factors for dyslexia is the exact type of information we wish our son’s teachers had available when they were in early elementary. Instead both of our sons struggled with the shame of being a struggling reader and teachers who were not able to target their reading intervention needs. We are excited to see this change happening for our next generation of struggling readers,” said Michelle Keiper & Tiffany Jenkins of Decoding Dyslexia Oklahoma.

Both bills now move to the state Senate where Assistant Majority Floor Leader Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma City) is the Senate author of HB 2804 and Sen. Gary Stanislawski (R-Tulsa) is the Senate author of HB 2889.

Sanders was a principal co-author of House Bill 3446, which would fund the literary specialists and professional development for teachers through current RSA appropriations. The measure passed the House with a vote of 89-0.

“Reading is one of the most important skills we can teach our children,” Sanders said. “Coupled with my two dyslexia bills that passed the House yesterday and other important bills that address literacy needs of our students, this bill will help our public elementary school teachers have the support they need to teach reading to our young students. This will boost learning and put students on a better path toward overall academic success.”

HB 3446 requires the SDE to retain no less than 10% of the funds appropriated for the RSA to employ a team of literary specialists to support districts in implementing the RSA requirements. The measure also requires school districts receiving more than $2,500 in funds appropriated for the RSA to spend no less than 10% of those funds on professional development for teachers teaching pre-K through fifth grade. The professional development shall include training in the science of how students learn to read.

HB 3446 is co-authored in the House by Common Education Chair Rhonda Baker (R-Yukon), and state Reps. Chelsey Branham (D-Oklahoma City), Chad Caldwell (R-Enid) and Brian Hill (R-Mustang).

The measure now moves to the State Senate where it is authored by Sen. Gary Stanislawski (R-Tulsa).

The Senate has passed Senate Bill 1619, a measure authored by Sen. Darcy Jech that would modify the calculation of sales tax applied to vehicles.

When a vehicle is purchased under current law, a sales tax of 1.25 percent is levied on the full price of the car. SB1619 would modify this calculation so the sales tax would be based on the difference between the actual sales price of a vehicle and the value of a trade-in, if applicable. This tax calculation is used in 38 states.

“Now, if you buy a $15,000 vehicle, you pay sales tax on that price even if you traded in your car to make the purchase more affordable,” Jech said. “If SB1619 is signed into law and you buy a car for $15,000, but trade in your vehicle for a $10,000 credit, you would only have to pay sales tax on the $5,000 you actually paid.”

The average American purchases a new car every six years, and Jech said this measure would make the car buying process more affordable for Oklahoma families.

“We all know the frustration of feeling over-taxed when making a large purchase, and this measure aims to keep more money in the pockets of Oklahomans,” Jech said.

The bill now advances to the House for consideration.