S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  9940

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 26, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. BRENNAN, MILLMAN, ROBINSON, ABINANTI, BOYLAND,
  CASTRO, MARKEY, M. MILLER, STEVENSON, TITONE -- Multi-Sponsored by  --
  M. of A. ABBATE, BROOK-KRASNY, FARRELL, P. RIVERA, WEPRIN -- read once
  and referred to the Committee on Higher Education

AN  ACT  to amend the education law, in relation to the certification or
  training of teachers, administrators and instructors in  the  area  of
  dyslexia and related disorders

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 3004 of the education law is amended  by  adding  a
new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
  7. A.  NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, THE COMMISSIONER IS
AUTHORIZED  AND  EMPOWERED  TO  CERTIFY OR REQUIRE TRAINING OF TEACHERS,
ADMINISTRATORS AND INSTRUCTORS IN THE AREA OF DYSLEXIA AND  ITS  RELATED
DISORDERS. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL HAVE THE POWER TO PRESCRIBE THE NECES-
SARY REGULATIONS AND ESTABLISH SUCH PROGRAMS AND TRAINING RELATED TO THE
NEEDS OF CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED DISORDER. SUCH PROGRAMS AND
TRAINING  SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF
SUFFICIENT HOURS OF COURSEWORK AND SUPERVISED  CLINICAL  EXPERIENCE,  AS
DETERMINED  BY THE COMMISSIONER TO BE EVIDENCE-BASED EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS,
SUCH AS MULTISENSORY STRUCTURED  LANGUAGE  EDUCATION  OR  OTHER  SIMILAR
EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN AT RISK FOR BEING, OR DIAGNOSED
AS,  DYSLEXIC  OR  A  RELATED DISORDER. SUCH PROGRAMS OR TRAINING MAY BE
OBTAINED FROM AN INSTITUTION OR PROVIDER WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED BY  THE
DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE SUCH PROGRAMS AND TRAINING.
  B.  FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "DYSLEXIA" SHALL MEAN A
SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER THAT IS NEUROLOGICAL IN ORIGIN  AND  THAT  IS
CHARACTERIZED  BY  UNEXPECTED  DIFFICULTIES WITH ACCURATE OR FLUENT WORD
RECOGNITION AND BY POOR SPELLING AND DECODING ABILITIES  NOT  CONSISTENT
WITH  THE  PERSON'S  INTELLIGENCE, MOTIVATION, AND SENSORY CAPABILITIES,
WHICH DIFFICULTIES TYPICALLY RESULT FROM A DEFICIT IN  THE  PHONOLOGICAL
COMPONENT OF LANGUAGE.
  S  2.  Clause (a) and subclause (i) of clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of
paragraph b of subdivision 1 of  section  4402  of  the  education  law,

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD13925-02-2

A. 9940                             2

clause  (a)  as  amended by chapter 53 of the laws of 1991 and subclause
(i) of clause (b) as amended by chapter 378 of the  laws  of  2007,  are
amended to read as follows:
  (a)  Obtain,  review  and evaluate all relevant information, including
but not limited to that presented by  the  parent,  person  in  parental
relationship  and teacher, pertinent to each child suspected of or iden-
tified as having a handicapping condition, including the  results  of  a
physical  examination performed in accordance with sections nine hundred
three, nine hundred four and nine hundred  five  of  this  chapter  and,
where  determined to be necessary by a school psychologist, an appropri-
ate psychological evaluation performed by a qualified private or  school
psychologist,  and  other appropriate assessments as necessary to ascer-
tain the physical, mental, emotional  and  cultural-educational  factors
which  may contribute to the suspected or identified handicapping condi-
tion, and all other school data which  bear  on  the  child's  progress,
including,  where appropriate, observation of classroom performance.  IF
THE COMMITTEE OR SUBCOMMITTEE HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT  THE  HANDICAP-
PING CONDITION MAY INVOLVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDI-
VISION  SEVEN  OF  SECTION  THREE  THOUSAND  FOUR  OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A
RELATED DISORDER, THE CHILD SHALL BE EVALUATED AND TESTED  ACCORDING  TO
CURRENT  SCIENTIFIC  UNDERSTANDING  OF DYSLEXIA TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE
CHILD HAS DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED DISORDER.
  (i) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
the reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person  in
parental  relation  and board of education or trustees as to appropriate
educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions  of
subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this article, and
as  to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination of
special class or program placements which evaluation shall be  furnished
to  the  child's parent or person in parental relation together with the
recommendations provided, however that the  committee  may  recommend  a
placement  in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only if such school
has a written policy pertaining to such  use  that  is  consistent  with
subdivision  four-a  of section thirty-two hundred eight of this chapter
and that the parent or person in parental relation is given such written
policy at the time such recommendation is made.  IF THE CHILD IS  DETER-
MINED  TO  HAVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDIVISION SEVEN
OF SECTION THREE THOUSAND FOUR OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A  RELATED  DISORDER,
THE RECOMMENDATIONS SHALL BE MADE BY A TEAM THAT IS KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE
CURRENT  SCIENTIFIC  UNDERSTANDING  OF  DYSLEXIA, INCLUDING THE INSTRUC-
TIONAL COMPONENTS AND APPROACHES FOR STUDENTS  WITH  DYSLEXIA.  If  such
recommendation  is  not  acceptable  to the parent or person in parental
relation, such parent or person in parental  relation  may  appeal  such
recommendation  as  provided  for  in section forty-four hundred four of
this [chapter] ARTICLE.
  S 3. Clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision  1  of
section 4402 of the education law, as amended by chapter 716 of the laws
of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
  (b) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
the  reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person in
parental relationship and board of education or trustees as to appropri-
ate educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions
of subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this  article,
and as to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination
of  special  class  or  program  placements  which  evaluation  shall be
furnished to the child's  parent  or  person  in  parental  relationship

A. 9940                             3

together  with  the recommendations provided, however that the committee
may recommend a placement in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only
if such school has a written policy pertaining to such use and that  the
parent  or  person in parental relationship is given such written policy
at the time such recommendation is made.  IF THE CHILD IS DETERMINED  TO
HAVE DYSLEXIA, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF SECTION
THREE  THOUSAND  FOUR OF THIS CHAPTER, OR A RELATED DISORDER, THE RECOM-
MENDATIONS SHALL BE MADE BY A TEAM THAT IS KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE INSTRUC-
TIONAL COMPONENTS AND APPROACHES FOR STUDENTS  WITH  DYSLEXIA.  If  such
recommendation  is  not  acceptable  to the parent or person in parental
relationship, such parent or person in parental relationship may  appeal
such  recommendation  as provided for in section forty-four hundred four
of this [chapter] ARTICLE.
  S 4. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section  4402  of  the  education
law,  as  amended by chapter 243 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read
as follows:
  a. The board of education or trustees of each school district shall be
required to furnish suitable educational opportunities for children with
handicapping conditions by one of the special services or programs list-
ed in subdivision two of section forty-four hundred one OF THIS ARTICLE.
The need of the individual child shall determine which of such  services
shall  be rendered.   IF THE CHILD IS A CHILD WITH DYSLEXIA OR A RELATED
DISORDER, THE DISTRICT SHALL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE TO  SUCH  CHILD  THE
SERVICES  OF  A  TEACHER  OR  INSTRUCTOR TRAINED IN DYSLEXIA AND RELATED
DISORDERS PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF SECTION THREE  THOUSAND  FOUR
OF  THIS  CHAPTER.  Each  district  shall  provide to the maximum extent
appropriate such services in a manner which enables children with handi-
capping conditions to participate in  regular  education  services  when
appropriate.  Such  services  or programs shall be furnished between the
months of September and June of each year, except that for the  nineteen
hundred  eighty-seven--eighty-eight  school  year  and  thereafter, with
respect to the students whose handicapping conditions are severe  enough
to  exhibit  the  need  for  a structured learning environment of twelve
months duration to maintain developmental levels, the board of education
or trustees of each school  district  upon  the  recommendation  of  the
committee  on  special education and, in the first instance, the consent
of the parent shall also provide, either directly or  by  contract,  for
the  provision  of  special  services and programs as defined in section
forty-four hundred one of this article during the  months  of  July  and
August  as  contained  in  the individualized education program for each
eligible child, and with prior approval by the commissioner if required;
provided that (i) a student with a handicapping condition who  is  first
eligible  to attend public school in the nineteen hundred eighty-seven--
eighty-eight school year shall  not  be  eligible  to  receive  services
pursuant to this paragraph during the months of July and August nineteen
hundred  eighty-seven  and  (ii) a student with a handicapping condition
who is first eligible to attend public school in  the  nineteen  hundred
eighty-eight--eighty-nine  school  year shall not be eligible to receive
services pursuant to this paragraph during the months of July and August
nineteen hundred eighty-eight and (iii) a student  with  a  handicapping
condition  who  is  eligible  for services during the months of July and
August nineteen hundred eighty-nine pursuant to the provisions of subdi-
vision six of section forty-four hundred ten of this article  shall  not
be  eligible  to receive services pursuant to this paragraph during such
months and (iv) a student with a handicapping condition who is  eligible
for  services,  including services during the months of July and August,

A. 9940                             4

pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of this article shall not  be
eligible  to  receive  services  pursuant  to  this paragraph during the
months of July and August.
  S  5.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
have become a law, provided that the  amendments  to  subclause  (i)  of
clause  (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section
4402 of the education law made by section  two  of  this  act  shall  be
subject  to  the  expiration  and  reversion  of such clause pursuant to
section 22 of chapter 352 of the laws of 2005, as amended, and  subdivi-
sion  d  of  section  27 of chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, as amended,
when upon such date the provisions of section three of  this  act  shall
take effect.