Dear Ms. Latimer, Dr. Covello, and Ms. Redfearn,<\/p>\n
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful and inspiring article, Rebuilding Special Education as a Student-First System<\/u><\/em>. Your piece provides a powerful and timely perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing special education today.<\/p>\n I was particularly impressed by the way you connected the increasing demands on special education services with the need for innovative instructional models, meaningful family partnerships, and policy reform. Your focus on inclusive practices and student-centered decision-making serves as an important reminder of why this work matters so deeply.<\/p>\n Congratulations as well on Lindley Academy Charter School being recognized by the National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) as an Exceptional Charter School in Special Education for four consecutive years. This remarkable achievement reflects not only institutional excellence but also the dedication of educators and leaders who consistently place students at the center of their work.<\/p>\n The statement that resonated most with me was:<\/p>\n “The work of special education is ultimately in service of one principle, the student is always first. Every decision that is made with the student genuinely in mind is the right one.”<\/em><\/p>\n This simple yet profound truth is impactful and deserves to be heard by all educators, regardless of role or specialty. It captures the very essence of educational leadership and serves as a guiding principle for everyone entrusted with supporting children.<\/p>\n Your call for the reauthorization of IDEA is equally important. As you note, technology has transformed special education practices, yet the legislative framework has not kept pace with these advances. The question for educational leaders and boards is: How do we effectively advocate with our legislative bodies to reauthorize IDEA so that it reflects today’s technologies, contemporary instructional practices, and the evolving needs of students with disabilities?<\/p>\n Finally, I would encourage all of you to consider sharing this story more broadly. The four-time NASET recognition, combined with the innovative work occurring at Lindley Academy, is newsworthy and worthy of wider public attention. It may be worthwhile to reach out to Martha Woodall at The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> to highlight both this exceptional accomplishment and the important message your article conveys about the future of special education. Plus, it will be another strong reason why Lindley should be given a 5 year charter agreement by SDP (along with all of your documentation of your actions taken to improve student performance).<\/p>\n Thank you all for your leadership, advocacy, and steadfast commitment to ensuring that every decision begins and ends with what is best for students. If you deem appropriate, please share this note of congratulations with our teachers and staff. It truly is a team-effort!<\/p>\n Warm regards,<\/p>\n Kathleen Taylor, Ed.D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Ms. Latimer, Dr. Covello, and Ms. Redfearn, Thank you for sharing your thoughtful and inspiring article, Rebuilding Special Education as a Student-First System. Your piece provides a powerful and timely perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing special education today. I was particularly impressed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-special-message"],"better_featured_image":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7460,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7459\/revisions\/7460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ap-schools.org\/Lindley-Academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}