Education Policy
they are tasked with doing. Let’s
invest in school buildings for the
next generation. Let’s give schools
resources, teachers and support
staff to teach and serve all kinds of
children to truly differentiate so that
ALL learners can get an excellent
education tailored for them in
their neighborhood. Let’s feed kids
healthy food. Let’s give kids exercise.
Let’s teach kids music and art and
languages. Let’s make neighborhood
public schools hubs of our community
where all families can access services
and build communities together. Let’s
value parents as partners, engage
them and care for them.
We need to highlight all of the small
successes happening in our schools.
There are thousands of success
stories every single day that are never
told. Why? Because they cannot be
measured by data or packaged prettily
in a school board report. To me, as a
mom, success is being told my daughter
was kind to a friend who was sad. To
me, success is being told my daughter
raised her hand and spoke out when
she was nervous. To me, success is that
my daughter, who struggles to read,
read a little bit better today. Because of
my public school, she will be kind. She
will be curious. She will take risks. She
will be open-minded. Let’s celebrate
that. Let’s highlight all those many
things that truly matter in the life of a
child’s development.
Yes, perhaps I am an idealist. But even
if we can’t, as a nation, get our head
around the simple fact that our schools
need money and funding, then we,
neighbors, can make changes in our
own schools. By “invest” I don’t mean
just with money. Yes, we need that. Lots
and lots of that. But we need to invest
ourselves. Our time. Our talents. Us.
Everyday Americans. Each of us, every
single one of us, have power to make
change for public education. There is
a school in your neighborhood. Find
it. Reach out to that school and find
out how to do your small part. Go read
to a child. Bring the teachers bagels
or Target gift cards or just a card that
says “thank you.” Pull weeds on the
playground. Buy some books for the
library. Anything.
Want more information on dyslexia?
• Follow Anna on Twitter @athorsen16
• Join Decoding Dyslexia - TN on Facebook
• Visit understood.org and dyslexia.yale.edu
• Watch the TEDed video “What is Dyslexia” by Kelli
Sandman-Hurley and the HBO Documentary “The Big
Picture - Rethinking Dyslexia” (both available for free
on YouTube)
Facilitating a Collaborative Spirit
By far the hardest part of the journey of
being a parent of a child with a special
need is collaborating with schools
when negotiating accommodations
for a child. As a parent advocate, you
have to be fierce and tireless. You
have to be deeply educated in your
child’s disability and your rights under
the federal, state and district laws and
regulations. Many parents of children
with special needs say they feel so
much stress because they are their
child’s mom, IEP case manager, tutor,
advocate and lawyer, all wrapped into
one and piled on top of all of the
other demands of work and family life.
It is overwhelming, and many parents
don’t have the luxury of time at the
end of a busy work week to dedicate
themselves to being the all-around
expert on their child’s education.
After years of playing all these roles,
parents get worn out and really must
struggle to work to build collaborative
relationships with schools.
To make matter worse, oftentimes
schools don’t see the human side of
these parents. They don’t look deeply
at parents to see that, ultimately, they
are stressed out, alone and exhausted.
Especially by the time middle and high
schools come around, schools don’t
realize that some parents have been
having this same fight, making these
same arguments for 10+ years. It can
really lead to strained relationships.
Building a collaborative relationship
takes a lot of work, and it is not easy.
At all. I certainly do not always do
a good job at it myself. Especially
when I am tired, angry and stressed
out as a mom. But, what I always
tell parents is that you are stuck, for
better or for worse, working with your
school, your teachers and your school
administration for a year or years. You
need them to not write you off as a
crazy parent.
Next Steps
I have asked the Dyslexia Advisory
Council to create an email account or
some other means to seek input from
teachers and parents. We must hear
from across our counties to know if
our law is having the needed affect for
our struggling children.
What I hope that Tennesseans will
soon come to see is that dyslexia is
an issue that matters to all Americans.
It’s the leading reason why 1 in 5 of
Americans cannot read. The National
Institute of Health (NIH) has declared
the lack of ability to read as a public
health issue. According to Dr. Reid
Lyon of the NIH, poor readers are
more likely to be on welfare, be teen
mothers, be in our prisons and have
mental health problems. A 2006 study
found that students with dyslexia are
3 times more likely to attempt suicide.
A study in Texas prisons found that
80% of prisoners have dyslexia.
Personally, I would love to see the
Council focus on educating our public
about what dyslexia is and what the
signs are. Many people think that
reversing letters is not the most
common sign of dyslexia. It’s not.
Many students have severe dyslexia
but never reverse letters. Some
students have a mild case while other
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