More on Dyslexia in Alabama

 In Alabama,


The state Department of Education receives $236,815 to hand out to local districts annually to help dyslexic students.

OK, one reliable site says that there are 1,471 schools in Alabama--that's a whopping $161.00 per school!  And this site says 797,721  kids in in preschool-grade twelve.  A whopping $0.30 per kid!  OK, OK, not every kid needs dyslexia services.   Let's say the incidence of dyslexia is 5% (nobody agrees what the right number is..)  it still isn't a lot of money per kid.

July 11, 2006

Group criticizes disbursement of dyslexia grants to schools
By Cathy Hayden  chayden@clarionledger.com

The Legislature's watchdog arm today criticized the Department of Education for the way dyslexia grants are awarded to local school districts.

Additionally, the joint committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review said the state agency is not properly monitoring local school districts' use of the money or analyzing data to see if the local programs are improving student learning.

"The department has never embraced the need for determining which programs are most effective," the PEER report said.

Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects children's ability to learn to read. Characteristics include consistent reading and spelling errors such as transposing letters and inverting words and difficulty in recognizing the connection between letters and sounds.

The state Department of Education receives $236,815 to hand out to local districts annually to help dyslexic students.