OKLAHOMA CITY – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister praised five bills the Legislature passed designed to strengthen student support and improve transparency in education.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed all five bills last week. Hofmeister explained the “new laws will push education forward and provide desperately needed supports.”
She then stated, “These measures will help ensure we maintain focus on all of Oklahoma’s more than 700,000 public school students.” HB 2804, authored by Rep. Mike Sanders and Sen. Stephanie Bice, requires schools to screen kindergarten through third-grade students for dyslexia if they are not reading on grade level at the beginning of the school year. Beginning in the 2022-23 school year. The State Dept. of Education will develop the screening process by 2021.
HB 2905, also known as the Virtual Charter School Reform and Transparency Act, was authored by Rep. Sheila Dills and Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, to make changes to instructional activities, truancy and a require a student orientation by the next school year. The OSDE will work to implement changes to the virtual charter school transfer process by 2021-22.
Rep. Tammy West and Sen. Gary Stanislawski authored HB 3466. Effective Nov. 1, the bill requires the State Textbook Committee to use a three-tiered rubric when reviewing materials to be approved for the state list. The committee must provide comments and/or justification for the rating given to each item and share the rubrics with districts.
“By improving transparency and efficiency in the adoption process for new textbooks, Oklahoma can better ensure teachers have high-quality instructional materials for every child they serve,” Hofmeister said.
Senate Bill 212, authored by Stanislawski and Rep. Rhonda Baker, requires the initial allocation of state aid for statewide virtual charter schools to be calculated like that of all other schools, rather than using a weight of 1.333 for all virtual students enrolled as of Aug. 1.
SB 1436 creates a new micro-credential for special education teachers already certified in mild-moderate disabilities to become certified in severe-profound disabilities and allows the State Board of Education to issue a two-year provisional certificate as teachers work to complete the credential. SB 1436, which was authored by Stanislawski and Rep. Nicole Miller, also creates a new certification in the area of comprehensive special education.