Why aren’t public schools doing this themselves?

Along with some colleagues, I am running a pop-up school for grade 8 kids with severe reading disabilities - a pilot for a specialized charter school. So far, we have three students enrolled, with another joining us this week. The students' parents have pulled them out of public school and send them to us each morning. We are helping them learn to read properly.

These are smart kids. But in grade 4, students must switch from ‘learning-to-read’ to ‘reading-to-learn’, and ours didn't make the transition. Older students who read poorly are in deep trouble in every subject, no matter how smart they are. To catch up, they must improve faster than their classmates, but they are trapped in the slow lane of poor reading, falling farther and farther behind. Some of our kids have IEP's, assessments, and accommodations; their school pushed extra paperwork for them, but never delivered effective help. These students have passed from grade to grade, next year they move on to high-school,  Time is running out and their shabby education has become a hair-on-fire emergency.  (more...)

Why aren’t public schools doing this themselves?