Every student learns differently and legislation sponsored by State Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, aims at providing students reasonable access to the materials they need to succeed in the classroom.
House Bill 2177 requires schools that provide electronic textbooks and instructional materials to provide a student reasonable access to a printed version of the material if the student or their parent requests it. The request must be written and submitted to the student’s principal for the accommodations.
“Every child is unique in their learning style. While most students are used to technology in the classroom, some students struggle reading on a computer or tablet. This legislation ensures that they have the option for a printed version if they need it,” Lynn said.
This will not burden school districts with additional costs as most electronic textbook and instructional material subscriptions cost the same as the physical textbooks.
“At the beginning of the year, school districts can estimate how many physical textbooks they may need and purchase those for these select students and the rest can go towards the subscriptions,” Lynn said.
House Bill 2177 advanced out of the Education Instruction Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to the Calendar & Rules Committee next week.
