As a former Head Start and Special Education teacher, I have personally seen the hard work that teachers and administrators do to help the 7.5 million children in these programs to develop into healthier, happier and productive members of our society.
I have taught a child to write his name. Then, when he was in a car accident and lost his right arm, I taught him to write with his left hand.
I have taught a little girl to cut with a scissors my husband reconfigured to fit her deformed hand. She had a paper doll book (the only book she had) and it made me cry when she brought it to school to show her friends what she could do.
I had another girl who we placed in the third grade the year after we found a dentist to remove her rotten teeth and we put her on the free lunch program. With better health and good nutrition, she was able to thrive and eventually graduated from high school.
If “equal opportunity in public education” means anything more than fancy words to make us feel good about...