House Bill 912 Summary

• Amends the Mississippi Dyslexia Education Forgivable Loan Program to authorize loan forgiveness for individuals providing instructional or clinical service as a licensed dyslexia therapist in public or eligible nonpublic schools.

• Expands eligible service locations to include both public school districts and nonpublic schools meeting specific criteria, with a limit of no more than 5 recipients providing services in nonpublic schools at any time.

• Maintains annual forgivable loan awards equal to total tuition, materials, and fees at the college or university, excluding out-of-state tuition for nonresidents.

• Limits admission to no more than 20 students per cohort annually, beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year, with loans provided only to students accepted into State Department of Education-approved Dyslexia Therapy Master's Degree Cohort Programs.

• Authorizes the State Department of Education to provide up to $50,000 annually to public school districts for recruitment and employment of licensed dyslexia therapy professionals, subject to legislative appropriation and district compliance with training and curriculum requirements.