2026 Legislative Wrap-up
June 10, 2026
We were unsuccessful in passing the Dyslexia Professional Development (PD), which would have required educators to receive two hours of PD during their 5-year teacher license renewal. The Dyslexia PD bill had strong bipartisan support and clear alignment with the READ Act; however, it was not able to move forward due to larger, unresolved issues that dominated the 2026 session. With advocacy strength, we plan to return next session with greater momentum and a renewed focus on the needs of dyslexic students.
Here are the 2026 wins that students with dyslexia received.
- We were successful in amending the screening language for 2nd and 3rd graders from the 2025 session and reverting to the original 2023 Read Act language. Going forward, 2nd and 3rd graders will benefit from the full range of screening tests for foundational reading skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and oral language. This screening is done 3 times per school year.
- Screening Requirement for Grades 4-12 not reading at Grade Level – A district must administer an approved reading screener to students in grades 4 and above who are not reading at grade level at least once per year until the student reaches grade-level proficiency, and report the screening results to the parents after every screening.
- We were successful in passing the Early Literacy Field Experience bill (HF3421/SF4011). This Teacher Preparation Program amendment requires teacher candidates in early literacy programs to complete supervised field experiences aligned with evidence-based best practices. This will better prepare new teachers with real-world classroom experience in teaching structured literacy based on the science of reading.
Links to bills with language changes.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2026/0/HF/4492/versions/1