Utah public school teachers, I see you. I see your long days working more than your contracted hours. I see you worrying about how to reach that one student. I see the money you spend out of your own pocket for your classroom. I see you because I was one of you for 10 years.
Parents of public school students, I hear you. I hear you scheduling babysitters so you can volunteer in the classroom. I hear you coordinating class parties. I hear you planning school activities, book fairs, after-school clubs and special events. I hear you because I was also one of you.
I was one of you until the day that changed everything — the day I realized one of my children had dyslexia. I knew what our school would do. I knew the best-case scenario would involve small group instruction, an IEP and maybe some testing accommodations. Even the best teachers can only do so much with a full classroom of students. I wanted more for my child, and I knew I could do better. I became a homeschooling mama.
As a public school teacher, I heard stories about those homeschooled kids who were always below grade level when they came back to school. I didn’t realize teachers were only seeing the situations where parents realized public school was the best fit for their children. Teachers don’t see all the homeschool success stories. When what was termed as “vouchers” were proposed, I was very upset. How dare they take money away from public education? I didn’t consider the education of children for whom the public school system wasn’t a fit. I didn’t understand the funds would come from a different part of the budget, and I didn’t realize I was also in an echo chamber at that time.
I was now a homeschooling mama, but there were no resources available to me — until we received the Utah Fits All Scholarship. The scholarship meant an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum for my child, which research shows is most effective in teaching children with dyslexia. It meant resources for one child who was always an accelerated learner for coding and robotics as well as a foreign language. (Our public school doesn’t have dual-immersion or gifted-talented programs.) It meant math games and manipulatives for my kinesthetic learners, books for my visual learners, a microscope and materials for science experiments, and online lessons from experts in certain subjects. It meant fees for a local co-op. It meant speech services for another child who struggles with pronunciation. I once taught children how to read, but I have learned so much more through my experiences homeschooling. I would be a better teacher now than I was then.
There are also benefits to our community. My children are no longer in the public school system, so their former school has slightly smaller class sizes. The scholarship takes fewer taxpayer dollars than sending children to public school. Scholarship dollars going into the community are supporting local providers and stimulating Utah’s economy.
Public schools work very well for many children. Students are as successful as they are in large part because of the dedication of our teachers. Still, what about those who don’t fit in the public school model?
The Utah Fits All scholarship program has meant so much to our family and many others. What will it mean moving forward? I hope it will continue to grow. I hope we can transform what education looks like for more families. Perhaps the real question we should ask ourselves is, “Which children do we care about educating?” Do we only care about providing resources for those who can learn in the public school setting, or do we want to help support all students so they can thrive academically?
Rather than turning this into an us-vs.-them situation, I hope we can come together and realize we are all trying to make the very best education decisions for our children. When we work together as a team, supporting all kinds of learners and educational settings, then we can truly help every child find their fit. Thank you, Utah Fits All, for helping us find ours!