San Antonio, TX – January 30, 2026
A newly released Texas Education Agency (TEA) 2025 Annual Report showing a more than 600% increase in students with dyslexia receiving special education services underscores what families, educators, and advocates have long known: dyslexia has been dramatically under-identified and under-supported for decades.
In the 2024-25 school year alone, more than 212,000 Texas students received special education services for dyslexia – an increase driven not by a rise in incidence, but by improved screening, clearer policy, and long-overdue recognition.
“This is not a dyslexia surge,” said Jasmin Dean, CEO of Celebrate Dyslexia. “It is a visibility surge. These children have always been here. The system is only now beginning to see them.”
The increase follows the passage of Texas House Bill 3928, which formally brought dyslexia under the special education umbrella and unlocked critical funding for districts. While the policy has expanded access to services, it has also exposed deep structural gaps particularly in outdated medical coding, a shortage of educators trained in dyslexia-specific instruction, and inequitable access to evidence-based curriculum.
Why This Moment Matters
The TEA report makes clear that districts are struggling to keep pace with demand. Dyslexia specialists are in short supply, training pipelines are limited, and instructional materials remain costly, fragmented, and inconsistent across districts.
Many educators are now being asked to support students with dyslexia without access to specialized training or certification in structured literacy and language-based intervention. Without intentional investment in dyslexia-specific professional development, increased identification alone cannot translate into meaningful outcomes for students.
Celebrate Dyslexia calls on policymakers, educators, healthcare leaders, and funders to treat this data not as a crisis, but as an opportunity to build a more effective and equitable system for learners with dyslexia. The organization advocates for systemic solutions, including:
- Modernizing the medical diagnostic code for dyslexia to ensure accurate identification and alignment across healthcare and education systems.
- Developing and scaling open-source, evidence-based dyslexia curriculum so schools are not limited by cost or geography.
- Expanding dyslexia-specific teacher training and certification pathways to ensure educators are prepared to deliver diagnostic, explicit, multisensory structured language instruction grounded in dyslexia science.
- Aligning education, healthcare, and policy to reduce the burden placed on families navigating fragmented systems.
“Educators are doing extraordinary work, but they cannot solve a systems problem alone,” Dean said. “Without a modern medical code, accessible curriculum, and educators trained in dyslexia-specific instruction, too many children will still fall through the cracks – especially those from underserved communities.”
Founded to address the persistent gap between research and practice, Celebrate Dyslexia works to ensure dyslexia is identified early, supported consistently, and understood accurately across medical, educational, and public policy domains. The Texas data reflects a national reality: when identification improves, demand for services follows and systems must be ready.
“This report validates exactly why we are here,” Dean said. “It is why we advocate, why we build, and why support for our work matters now more than ever.”
For more information or to support Celebrate Dyslexia’s work, visit www.celebratedyslexia.org.
ABOUT US
Celebrate Dyslexia is a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit uniting educators, healthcare professionals, communities, and families around a shared vision to reimagine what’s possible for dyslexic learners. Founded in 2019, we bridge the worlds of education, healthcare, and policy – a rare and powerful combination that ensures dyslexic individuals are supported not just in school, but across every system that touches their lives. From classroom conversations to statewide policy discussions, Celebrate Dyslexia advances this vision with hope, advocacy, and action.
