The New York City Education Department revealed a sweeping, school system-wide plan Thursday to help kids with dyslexia — a cause near and dear to Mayor Adams’ heart.

Historically, public school students with reading difficulties have had trouble getting their disability diagnosed, and had untrained teachers, advocates say. The mayor — who has been open about his struggles with undiagnosed dyslexia — and Schools Chancellor David Banks plan to change that.

Now, a new screening process will try to identify kids with dyslexia, new curriculum and teacher training will closely align with scientific research on how kids learn to read, and new classes will be specifically geared toward helping students with reading disabilities.

“We are going to have the largest, most comprehensive approach to supporting students with dyslexia in the country,” Adams said Thursday flanked by local lawmakers, staff and parents at Public School 125 in Harlem, one of the schools that will host a specialized program for dyslexic kids starting this fall. Banks acknowledged that in a system as large as New York City, with more than 900,000 students and 70,000 teachers with a range of backgrounds and experiences in teaching kids to read, change won’t come “overnight.”

But for parents who have banged their heads against a wall for years trying to get desperately needed reading help for their kids, the announcement offered hope that things are moving in the right direction. Read the full story here