Benton wins funding for his bill to help students with dyslexia

April 25, 2009

OLYMPIA…Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, won legislative approval on April 23 of his bill to expand access to specialized training for teachers to help children with dyslexia. 

The final state operating budget for 2009-11 provides $145,000 in each year of the biennium to fund his bill. 

“I am very pleased,” Benton said. “So many children who are now labeled as learning-disabled but afflicted with dyslexic will benefit.” 

The program was originally started as a demonstration project in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Benton’s measure, Substitute Senate Bill 6016, expands the program and moves it out to the state’s nine regional Educational Service Districts. 

“This will make the program more accessible to Clark County teachers and teachers across the state,” he said. 

Studies show one in five children are affected by dyslexia and 80 percent of those students labeled learning-disabled are actually dyslexic. 

Benton’s ability to work in a bipartisan manner secured the funding in the budget. 

“I worked closely with Senator Margarita Prentice, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, to win this funding,” Benton said. “I am very grateful for her cooperation and understanding of the critical need to push this program out to all our schools.”  

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Additional Contact: Penny Drost (360) 786-7522 or drost.penny@leg.wa.gov