Some of my biological children have unique educational needs. Their educational journey was not one followed by typical children. I have a brilliant son with autism. I have a creative and expressive daughter with a severe, chronic illness. I have a spunky active daughter that is just as normal as can be. Each of them has needed some special treatment in their education at times.
When I was a stay at home mom for a few years, my son with autism attended his zoned school. Repeatedly, we were told that he would never learn to read or that he should be in a classroom with other kids like him. Repeatedly, his potential was ignored due to a syndrome they viewed as a disability. At the time, my family was struggling financially and was on welfare. Because I had the choice to help my son map out his education, we would have the opportunity to choose a charter school that was the right place for him when his zoned school was not.
My son just finished 8th grade at the top of his class, has already taken high school classes, and is in the top 1% as far as test scores go. I firmly believe his journey would not have worked out this way if we had not had the choice to find another school for him. Charter schools offer educational opportunities to all students regardless of income or location. They have changed the lives of my children and many others.
As a mother, I am grateful for charter schools. They have increased the quality of my own children’s educations tenfold. As a teacher, I am even more grateful for charter schools. They have increased my ability to teach children tenfold.
Ready Christina’s perspective as an educator here.
