HB307: HB307 Quality Basic Education Act; students significantly at risk of not achieving grade level reading proficiency or with characteristics of dyslexia; include provisions

Georgia already requires schools to screen young students for reading problems under the Georgia Early Literacy Act. HB 307 renames it the Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act and adds new rules focused specifically on dyslexia. Schools must notify parents in writing within 15 school days when a student is identified as having characteristics of dyslexia, and must create individualized support plans for those students unless a parent opts out in writing. The Department of Education must publish and distribute a dyslexia informational handbook to schools each year and provide dyslexia-specific teacher training. The bill also bans the three-cueing system, an approach to teaching word reading based on meaning, sentence structure, and visual cues, from being used or promoted in kindergarten through third grade reading instruction anywhere in the state. It repeals an older dyslexia screening code section, updates outdated 2024 deadlines, expands the Georgia Council on Literacy's mission to include adult literacy, and extends that council's expiration date from 2026 to 2030. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Requires schools to notify parents in writing within 15 school days when a kindergarten through third grade student shows characteristics of dyslexia, and to create a support plan for that student unless the parent opts out.
• Bans the three-cueing system (teaching word reading through meaning, sentence structure, and visual cues, also called MSV) from instructional materials and teaching practices in kindergarten through third grade statewide.
• Requires the Department of Education to publish and distribute a yearly dyslexia informational handbook to every school, including guidance, training program lists, and dyslexia endorsement information.
• Repeals the old dyslexia screening statute (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-159.6) and folds its purpose into the updated Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act.
• Creates the Georgia Literacy Coach Coordinating Committee inside the Office of Student Achievement to oversee statewide literacy coaching.
• Expands the Georgia Council on Literacy's mission to cover adult literacy outcomes, not just students, and extends the council's expiration (repealer) date from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2030.

Kindergarten through third grade students and their parents or guardians, especially those flagged for reading difficulties or dyslexia; public school teachers and administrators who must give new notices and complete training; local school systems and the Department of Education, which take on new reporting and publishing duties; and members of the Georgia Council on Literacy, whose expense reimbursements and mission change.

Parents of young Georgia students with reading struggles would get faster, more detailed written notice and a required support plan if their child shows signs of dyslexia. Teachers statewide would be barred from using three-cueing based materials, changing how word reading is taught in early grades, and schools face new annual reporting and handbook distribution duties.

• Section 1-2 rewrites O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-153.1, renaming it the Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act and adding definitions for 'characteristics of dyslexia,' 'foundational literacy skills,' and 'three-cueing system.'
• New subsection (d)(5) requires written parental notice within 15 school days of a dyslexia characteristics identification, including data used, proposed interventions, and a right to decline the support plan in writing.
• New subsection (d)(6) bans any kindergarten through third grade curriculum, instructional materials, or practices that use the three-cueing system, and bars instruction from relying on visual memory to teach word reading.
• Subsection (c)(5) requires the Department of Education to publish and distribute a dyslexia informational handbook to every school and local system by July 15 each year.
• Section 1-3 repeals O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-159.6, the prior law on dyslexia screening, training, and pilot program data reporting.
• Section 1-2 establishes the Georgia Literacy Coach Coordinating Committee within the Office of Student Achievement to coordinate statewide literacy coaching.
• Section 2-2 broadens the Georgia Council on Literacy's purpose to improving literacy outcomes for Georgia adults as well as students, and Section 2-5 extends its repeal date from 2026 to 2030.
• Section 3-1 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law.

1. 2025-04-28Effective Date 2025-04-28
2. 2025-04-28Act 13
3. 2025-04-28House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-09House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-31House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2025-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2025-03-25Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)Primary sponsor
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 28, 2025

   166 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #113

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   55 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #302

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2025

   167 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 9 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #357

• dyslexia
• reading instruction
• early literacy
• K-3 education
• Georgia public schools