The Whole Person’s Clark Corogenes played an important role in the development and passing of Missouri’s LEAD-K Bill.
The purpose of the LEAD-K bill is to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in Missouri learn American Sign Language (ASL) and English in primary school.
This is crucial for their future educational and career success, as it aims to provide them with strong early language exposure and development, helping to prevent language deprivation and ensuring they are well-prepared for kindergarten and beyond.
How the LEAD-K Bill Impacts Children
LEAD-K impacts deaf children’s education by ensuring they receive early exposure to both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. This dual-language approach helps prevent language deprivation, which can occur when children do not learn as many words as they should at an early age.
By establishing language developmental milestones and providing resources for language acquisition, LEAD-K aims to improve the educational outcomes and future career success of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children.
This initiative ensures that DHH children are better prepared for kindergarten and subsequent educational stages, fostering stronger communication skills and overall literacy.
Challenges to Overcome
During the legislative process, LEAD-K faced several challenges:
- Opposition from Oral Educators and Audiologists: Many oral educators, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf opposed the bill. They believed that DHH children should learn lipreading and speech instead of ASL.
- Resistance from Committee Chairperson: Rep. Bard Pollit, the Chairperson of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, initially resisted HB 106. He believed that DHH children should learn English through lip reading, speech language therapy, and Signing Exact English (SEE). He challenged the proponents to explain the difference between English and ASL.
- Senate Bill Dropped: The Senate Bill 340 was referred to the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee but did not progress and was dropped from the Senate’s calendar.
- House Bill Dropped: The House of Representatives’ leader decided not to take the LEAD-K Bill to open discussion, and it was dropped from the House calendar.
Despite these challenges, the proponents of LEAD-K continued to advocate for the bill, eventually leading to its successful passage and signing into law.
Effective Date
The law, effective August 28, 2023, mandates the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish language developmental milestones and new assessments, starting in the 2024-25 school year.
More Information – Timeline of the Bill
The document details the journey of the Missouri LEAD-K (Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids) bill, championed by Clark Corogenes and his collaborators. The timeline highlights key milestones from September 2021 to July 2023, including community engagement, legislative meetings, overcoming opposition, and the eventual signing of the bill into law by Governor Michael Parson.
