Parents of children with reading disabilities might be led to believe that school choice for a charter or private school is better than an actual public school. Still, there needs to be proof that those schools are better or that children will get accepted into good schools. Students may lose protection under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
States are flaunting bills for privatized plans, including vouchers, savings accounts, and tax credits; see Virginia and Ohio as examples, while grave concerns surround the defunding of public schools and the loss of qualified teachers.
Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) has been a longtime advocate for children with reading disabilities and dyslexia; however, he’s a critic of public schools and teachers and sponsored the Educational School Choice for Children Act.
Cassidy is one of the Senate’s new GOP education leaders. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Rand Paul will lead the committee. Cassidy will focus on reading disabilities. But will he support reading programs in public schools, or will he push school choice to private and charter schools that lack accountability?
This is a concerning question considering charter schools in New Orleans have had insurmountable problems and have not served children with disabilities well. In addition, most children in this country attend traditional public schools that need good reading programs and qualified reading teachers.
Cassidy is connected to former education secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family donated $70,000 to Cassidy’s campaign and who is behind the American Federation of Children, which supports school choice.
Sen. Cassidy seems sincere about helping children. He and his wife have a daughter who struggled to learn to read. They opened the Louisiana Key Academy (LKA), a charter school for students with reading disabilities and dyslexia.
But his apparent disdain for public education and teachers is worrisome, along with the fact that the LKA is being promoted as a model without good results. Parents whose children are in the school might like it claiming their child makes progress with teacher grades and receives attention, but high reading test results are what they demand in public schools.
Our schools fail dyslexic children, but the Louisiana Key Academy is a model solution https://t.co/6LryfzObGs
— Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@BillCassidy) November 5, 2018
Cassidy’s wife, Dr. Laura Cassidy, a former surgeon, runs the LKA. In 2018, The Advocate, Louisiana’s largest daily newspaper, reported the school had an F rating. It was being given another chance.
Four years later, The Advocate reported again that the LKA continued to show substandard results but had been given permission to expand. GreatSchools.org also shows that LKA has poor results.
Not only does the LKA not appear to improve reading results, but it’s an isolated special school. Most parents in public schools, demand that their child with reading disabilities or dyslexia receive reading instruction in general classes, called inclusion. Parents often reject separate classes nor do they seem open to district schools for reading disabilities, although those options should be on the table with IDEA.
It’s unfair to promote charter or private schools as models of success over public schools, when they do not include inclusion, and when they don’t show better results.
In 2018, Dr. Laura Cassidy penned for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute once again implying Our schools fail dyslexic children, but the Louisiana Key Academy is a model solution.
Yet another school rating group Public School Review rates the LKA which serves 404 students from kindergarten to grade 8 at the bottom 50% of all 1,267 schools in Louisiana (based off of combined math and reading proficiency testing data) for the 2018-19 school year.
The diversity score of Louisiana Key Academy is 0.48, which is less than the diversity score at state average of 0.63. The school’s diversity has stayed relatively flat over five school years.
The LKA states that many teachers are not trained (referring to public school teachers I assume) and that children aren’t identified like they should be, but it’s unclear how they go about hiring teachers or what training they receive.
In 2019, the Cracking the Code CBS News feature highlighted the LKA along with Dr. Sally Shaywitz and her husband, Dr. Bennett Shaywitz, partners with the Louisiana Key Academy.
Shaywitz’s book Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level implies that children can overcome their reading difficulties with phonics, with much of their research based on fMRI scans which have been associated with the Science of Reading. In her book Shaywitz calls No Child Left Behind groundbreaking and was a reviewer for the Reading First grants (p.173) which turned out controversial and ineffective.
If the Science of Reading is working, why isn’t the LKA demonstrating better reading success? It’s unfair to say public school teachers fail to teach reading, while charter schools show substandard results. This creates a double standard.
Dr. Sally Shaywitz also sat on the controversial National Reading Panel, which is positively cited by those who promote a Science of Reading. Often ignored are the dissenting viewpoints of the only school educator on the panel, Joanne Yatvin.
We desperately need in this country a new National Reading Panel that will this time, include teachers and parents and do better at reviewing the research and fair debate that is not acrimonious and dismissive of particular viewpoints.
But school choice is a big part of the Republican agenda, especially for children with disabilities. And politicians may want want to dismantle protections that come with IDEA along with public schools.
.@DeAngelisCorey is totally right. Money needs to follow the student, not the school. We need to pass the Educational School Choice for Children Act. pic.twitter.com/KfxhNnoFP8
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) November 26, 2022
I hope that Sen. Cassidy and the education committee will focus on improving IDEA and the services for children with all disabilities in our public school system and that they will look to create a new all-inclusive National Reading Panel.
What children need in public schools, is to be evaluated individually for reading difficulties and have the option of a supportive inclusion class, small resource classes, intensive reading instruction, and have well-prepared teachers, and reading specialists with degrees from reputable universities. Teachers also should have access to the necessary resources they believe will assist their students.
School districts might also create small schools similar to the LKA dedicated to reading remediation, and those schools should be monitored and have well-prepared reading teachers. There may be techniques that can be learned from the LKA and those schools may also learn from public education teachers.
Republicans and Democrats should get behind IDEA and focus on a Free Appropriate Public Education to help all children learn to read. We should also be re-accessing the research, including the age and developmental reading expectations when it comes to the Science of Reading. Again. This country needs an all-inclusive new National Reading Panel. Thank you for reading.
Reference
Shaywitz, S. (2005). Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. New York: Vintage Books.
Some districts have eliminated the resource rooms and special education trained teachers that know how to diagnose and tailor instruction to the specific needs of the students. In addition, these young people benefit from the social contact they have from being in a regular class with their peers for the majority of the day. The resource room teacher also works with the classroom teacher in order to adapt materials and instruction to the needs of the classified students. I worked in a school with this highly effective model that addressed student needs and provided support without subjecting the child to total isolation.
I absolutely agree, Karen! I was a middle and high school resource teacher for students with learning disabilities for many years! I very much appreciate your comment. Thank you!