The IDEA

The spirit of the IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Educational Act) was to protect FAPE (Free And Appropriate Public Education). Or was it?

What has happened is the IDEA has ended up removing avenues of due process for the student. It has modeled a shield for those who can afford lawyers, arguably the districts. Now school districts are funded by our tax dollars and paid to fight against the students rights.  Effort is currently spent by districts to provide a veil of compliance through paper work rather than meaningful benefit.

Twenty percent of the population has dyslexia. Eighty percent of the student's with disabilities are in the category of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD).

What these students need is the protection of the ADA because that is what this is about, the students civil rights. Is it not a right to inherit the tools for learning? How could we possibly perpetuate our civilization if we do not inform the new generation? Do we really need education explicitly amended to our Constitution in order to do the right thing?

We would hope then the Office of Civil Rights would protect these students rights, at the least protect access to accessibility technology, but there begins another tale.

All one needs to do to understand the depth of the consequences of disenfranchising twenty percent of the population is to do an internet search on dyslexia and depression. What you will find in the search results is many studies on dyslexia and suicidal ideation.

Like a friend of mine said, a (Seattle) nurse. "We have seen a spike in suicide, mostly females and I don't know whether that's because the males are more successful. But all of the nurses know that before we look at the child's chart that we will find they are diagnosed with a learning disability."

If a parent must embrace a child for its health and wellness so must the community. Most parent's know intuitively whether their child is being included around the campfire. But does society know this, if not intuitively, through common sense, best practice or is it only through policy and law we chose to educate?

Which leads us to a politician, a "mom in tennis shoes" a senator like Patti Murray, that will deny overwhelming evidence by Representative Lamar Smith and refuse to include these students in the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).

Instead of tennis shoes she should have put on her boots.

But, hey, it's our fault. Education has deteriorated, despite the founders plea to future generations that education is key to maintaining a republic. A deaf ear by citizens began to deteriorate education as far back as 1825 when the powers that be went ruthlessly after Noah Webster's centuries old reading instruction methodology, but now I digress.