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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
A bill being considered in the Tennessee General Assembly seeks to expand the Individualized Education Act (IEA) to allow a child with dyslexia to be eligible for the individualized education account program.
John Patton, Tennessee State Director for the American Federation for Children, told the Tennessee Conservative – “It (the bill) expands the IEA (special needs ESA program) to include a category called ‘specific learning disabilities’ (SLD). Basically what it does is expand the IEA to include dyslexia, which is the main disability under this SLD category.”
The IEA already includes the following disabilities as defined by the State Board of Education:
- Autism
- Deaf-blindness
- Hearing impairments
- Intellectual disability
- Orthopedic impairments
- Traumatic brain injury
- Visual impairments
- Developmental delay
- Multiple disabilities
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The Senate version of the bill (SB1158), sponsored by Senator Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin-District 18), was recommended for passage by the Senate Education Committee with 8 members voting in favor and one against on March 16th. They did not take a vocal vote, so the Ayes won out, with no names being tied to the votes.
SB1158 will now head to the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee but it has not appeared on their calendar upon publication of this article.
The House bill (HB0751), sponsored by Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington-District 81), was heard by the Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 15th and passed out of committee with Ayes prevailing. Representative Bruce Griffey requested to be recorded as voting No.
HB0751 now appears on the calendar for the full House Education Instruction Committee for March 23rd, 2022.
If you support this legislation, contact the Republican members on this committee prior to their meeting next week.
House Education Instruction Committee
Debra Moody (chair) – rep.debra.moody@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3774
Terri Lynn Weaver (vice-chair) – rep.terri.lynn.weaver@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2192
Scott Cepicky – rep.scott.cepicky@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3005
Bruce Griffey – rep.bruce.griffey@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6804
Kirk Haston – rep.kirk.haston@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-0750
Tim Hicks – rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1717
Eddie Mannis – rep.eddie.mannis@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2287
John Ragan – rep.john.ragan@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4400
Iris Rudder – rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-8695
Mike Sparks – rep.mike.sparks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6829
Todd Warner – rep.todd.warner@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4170
Mark White – rep.mark.white@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4415
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
