HOUSE BILL NO. 438
INTRODUCED BY BUZZAS, LEWIS
AN ACT PROVIDING BRAILLE SERVICES TO A BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILD; DETERMINING THE NEED FOR BRAILLE INSTRUCTION; REQUIRING THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION TO ADOPT STANDARDS FOR PERSONNEL WHO PROVIDE BRAILLE INSTRUCTION; REQUIRING A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY OF TEXTBOOKS THAT COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW IN A TIMELY MANNER; REQUIRING THE MONTANA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND TO ESTABLISH A BRAILLE ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT LOAN PROGRAM; PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION; AMENDING SECTION 20-7-602, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
AN ACT PROVIDING BRAILLE SERVICES TO A BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILD; DETERMINING THE NEED FOR BRAILLE INSTRUCTION; REQUIRING THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION TO ADOPT STANDARDS FOR PERSONNEL WHO PROVIDE BRAILLE INSTRUCTION; REQUIRING A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY OF TEXTBOOKS THAT COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW IN A TIMELY MANNER; REQUIRING THE MONTANA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND TO ESTABLISH A BRAILLE ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT LOAN PROGRAM; PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION; AMENDING SECTION 20-7-602, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Article X, section 1(1), of the Montana Constitution establishes the state's goal of providing a system of education that will develop the full educational potential of each person and guarantees equality of educational opportunity to each person; and
WHEREAS, according to an article in a 1998 edition of Star Student, a preliminary study evaluating the correlation between adult literacy skills and employment conducted by Dr. Ruby Ryles, the founding coordinator of the master's program in orientation and mobility at the Louisiana Tech University, found that in a study of 74 adults who were born legally blind and were patrons of the Library for the Blind, 44% of the participants who had learned to read in Braille were unemployed, while those who had learned to read using print had a 77% unemployment rate; and
WHEREAS, the preliminary unemployment results prompted Dr. Ryles to conduct a study to establish the correlations between present literacy rates and the early reading education by comparing the results of 45 legally blind high school students from 45 cities, towns, and rural communities in 11 eastern and southern states with those of 15 sighted students attending the same schools as the legally blind students; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Ryles discovered that early Braille readers outperformed sighted students in vocabulary by a 5% margin on the comprehension, vocabulary, and other subtests of the Stanford achievement test and nearly matched their sighted classmates on the Woodcock Johnson R (revised) test; and
WHEREAS, in the capitalization and punctuation portion of the Woodcock Johnson R (revised) test, early Braille reading students who received Braille instruction 4 to 5 days each week in the 1st through 3rd grades produced a mean score that was 7 percentage points higher than their sighted classmates, 25 percentage points higher than students who received Braille instruction fewer than 4 days each week, and 42 percentage points higher than their legally blind classmates who received no Braille instruction; and
WHEREAS, in the spelling portion of the Woodcock Johnson R (revised) test, early Braille learners averaged 1 percentage point higher than fully sighted readers, 32 percentage points higher than students who received Braille instruction fewer than 4 days each week in 1st through 3rd grades, and 38 percentage points higher than legally blind students who received no instruction in reading Braille; and
WHEREAS, the studies performed by Dr. Ryles lead to the inescapable conclusion that early Braille education is crucial to literacy and that literacy is crucial to employment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 6] may be cited as the "Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and Education Act".
Section 2. Definitions. As used in [sections 1 through 6], unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Blind or visually impaired child" means an individual who is eligible for special education services and who:
(a) has a visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses or has a limited field of vision such that the widest diameter subtends an angular distance of no greater than 20 degrees; or
(b) has a medically indicated expectation of visual deterioration that would qualify the child as having a visual acuity as described in subsection (1)(a).
(2) "Braille" means the system of reading and writing through touch, commonly known as standard English Braille.
(3) "Individualized education program" means a written statement developed for a student eligible for special education services pursuant to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1401(11).
Section 3. Individualized education program for child with blindness. The individualized education program for each blind or visually impaired child must be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq.
Section 4. Standards of competency and instruction. Instruction in Braille reading and writing must be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq.
Section 5. Instructional materials and Braille equipment -- Braille equipment loan program. The Montana school for the deaf and blind shall establish a Braille electronic equipment loan program that may be used by a school district to provide Braille equipment as specified in a student's individualized education program. The equipment must be loaned on a temporary basis to a school district, but the district is responsible for purchasing like equipment required by the student's individualized education program.
Section 6. Personnel training. The board of public education shall establish standards to ensure that individuals who provide Braille instruction are appropriately trained and supervised.
Section 7. Section 20-7-602, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-7-602. Textbook selection and adoption -- definition. (1) Textbooks shall must be selected by the district superintendent or by the school principal if there is no district superintendent. Such The selections shall be are subject to the approval of the trustees. In districts not employing a district superintendent or principal, the trustees shall select and adopt the textbooks on the basis of recommendations of the county superintendent.
(2) In selecting textbooks, the district shall ensure that the materials are made available to each blind and visually impaired child in a timely manner in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, et seq."
Section 8. Appropriation. The following money is appropriated from the general fund to the Montana school for the deaf and blind to establish a Braille equipment loan program and to provide for expansion of the outreach program to assist public school districts in conforming with the requirements of the Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and Education Act:
Fiscal year 2006 $244,273
Fiscal year 2007 $195,731
Section 9. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through 6] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 20, chapter 7, part 4, and the provisions of Title 20, chapter 7, part 4, apply to [sections 1 through 6].
Section 10. Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 2005.
- END -
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