More than 700 people have signed an online petition pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation to evaluate the state's dyslexia screening and intervention standards, and help improve New York literacy rates.

The Dyslexia Task Force Act would establish a 10-person expert panel to recommend the best practices to diagnose and help students with learning disorders like dyslexia and dysgraphia.

About 60% of U.S. children don't read at a proficient level, according to the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. ​

"Literacy affects everything," said Marion Waldman, the co-founder and executive director of nonprofit Teach My Kid to Read.

Teach My Kid to Read started the petition, which amassed more than 700 signatures in two days. October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. 

The petition will be sent to the governor's office after it surpasses its minimum goal of 1,000 signatures.

If the bill becomes law, the task force would work for a year-and-a-half to create universal screening protocols, training standards for teachers and more.

Waldman founded nonprofit Teach My Kid To Read after her daughter struggled with dyslexia through elementary and middle school.

"It never occurred to me in my wildest dreams that she could have a reading issue," Waldman said. "I surrounded her with books. I did everything that I thought would build a reader, but I had a gut feeling something was wrong."

Lawmakers in both houses unanimously voted to create the task force this session.

Gov. Hochul has until the end of the year to sign the Dyslexia Task Force Act, but it's unclear if or when she'll make the decision.

State Assemblyman Robert Carroll, a Democrat from Brooklyn, struggled with dyslexia as a young child. He was diagnosed while in first grade.

"Dyslexia does not need to be an academic hinderance," he said Monday.

Carroll said the state's literacy education curriculum must be more focused on phonics and early intervention, adding the task force is a first step.

"If I had not had that early diagnosis and those early interventions, you know, my life would have been exceptionally different," Carroll said. "...Children who are behind in third grade, statistically, don't catch up in reading attainment," Carroll said. "That doesn't have to be the case."

The assemblyman later plans to fight for adequate funding for schools to ensure the recommendations are implemented.

He discussed the legislation with the governor's office and is hopeful Gov. Hochul will sign his bill into law. 

The task force's recommendations are expected to give parents or student caregivers information earlier to accelerate intervention and improve student literacy.

"[It's] a new effort to address these students and their needs," sponsor Sen. Brad Hoylman said. "Thus far, it's really been up to parents to try to figure it out, and it's very difficult."

Reading proficiency is lower among Black or Hispanic students and in low-income areas.

For example, 65% of third-grade students in the Albany City School District in the 2020-2021 academic year were proficient in reading, according to the State Education Department, compared to 35% of Hispanic students in third grade, 28% for students that age living in poverty, 25% of Black third graders and only 10% for students with learning disabilities like dyslexia.

There's an even steeper disparity of reading proficiency among people in prison. 

Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan, recalled his experience with his daughter after she was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. Early intervention changed the now-11-year-old reader's life.

Parents and caregivers of children with dyslexia, dysgraphia or related disorders should remain encouraged, Hoylman said.

"There is hope," the senator added. "If you get the educational support you deserve, you can be a good reader, you can be a great student and the world really awaits you."