Crystal Kabacinski’s Petition To Be Brought Before Both Congress & Senate

The communities across the United States are petitioning both Congress & Senate to give every child  free, high-quality, equal & available public education as modeled by the late Horace Mann.

Horace Mann born in 1796 in Massachusetts, he married twice & had three children before he died in 1859. He became a college president, educator, politician, & founding father of public education. He made it his life’s work to create a successful public school system.

According to Mann’s model he believed, society had a duty to see that all children received a free, high-quality, equal & available for all, education as part of the birth-right of every American child & that education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds. We have lost these concepts over the years in our public schools & children have suffered.

There are learning (dis)abled students with Mild to Profound Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder across the United States capable of learning of these subjects: Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic, Social Studies, Science, Geography, English, and electives required to graduate from high school with a real diploma; if we still had the free public education modeled by the late Horace Mann.

These students are no different than their peers. These students are highly intelligent, responsible, outgoing, & eager to learn, when given the chance. These students learn by a method called, Methodology (multi-sensory learning) as opposed to the traditional way. These students should not be discriminated or segregated against in the public schools across the United States. Mann hoped that by bringing all children, of all classes together, they could have a common learning experience. In his speech he stated that “education should reach like a ladder from earth to heaven”—an ideal he worked to make a reality throughout his lifetime for students everywhere.

Horace Mann had won his victory when the public school soon stood as one of the characteristic features of American life, A "wellspring" of freedom & a "ladder of opportunity" for millions. 

Crystal Kabacinski, is now seventeen, cannot read or spell & is behind in her subjects due to teachers refusing to teach her in the public schools. She has attended public schools in the State of Delaware. She has not been given the privilege of experiencing the characteristic features of American life- A “wellspring” of freedom & a “ladder of opportunity” as one of the millions stated by the late Horace Mann. Her experiences have not been victorious. Does she deserve to be treated like this? The answer is no. 

Horace Mann campaigned for education, including to get rid of the inferior school committees & was successful. As you can see today, we again have the inferior school committees that the late Horace Mann had successfully removed from the public schools. The School Districts, Transportation Departments, & Schools, have all un-enrolled Crystal many times while attending public schools without parental permission. Why? It is a way to keep the teachers from having to teach her. She has been thoroughly tested by three different licensed professionals who have all diagnosed her with Profound Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder.  Each of these professionals have made recommendations to help her succeed in her education, but the School Districts, Superintendents, Delaware Board of Education, & Schools refuse to accept these legitimate tests results from outside the School Districts. The main recommendation for her is to use a method called, Methodology (multi-sensory learning) designed specifically for students with Dyslexia & associated disorders. The Curriculum & Methodology had all been Horace Mann's development, & it was a creditable program. 

By law, if the parent(s) disagrees with the assessment findings, a second opinion can be requested & the findings be accepted. According to Federal Law, once a request has been made for an IEP the school has forty-five days to administer a complete set of tests. This did not happen for Crystal. Her mom continued to call the public school for up to ninety school days asking when the complete set of test would be administered. When the School Psychologist did administer a test it was not the complete set of test required for an IEP. The use of an incomplete test allowed the School Psychologist to mislabel Crystal as Cognitively Delayed/Mentally Retarded, instead of Profound Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. Leaving her with an IEP she could not obtain the proper services to succeed in school. Was this fair to Crystal? No. 

What choices did this leave Crystal? Either attend school to learn life skills she has already learned at home from age five or stay home. These choices were not appropriate. Where were the teachings of Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic, Social Studies, Science, Geography, English, & electives required to graduate with a real diploma allowing her to attend a four year college of her choice? No where.  

Even the State of Michigan has denied Crystal the privilege of enrolling in the free K-12 Online Schooling. The K-12 Online Schooling states their curriculum is geared towards a variety of students & includes using Methodology. K-12 Online School told Crystal the State of Michigan has a law that students’ age & grade must match to be enrolled. 

As in the late Horace Mann’s era not many children received an education & those who did were primarily those whose parents could afford to hire private tutors. That holds true today with students who have Mild to Profound (especially profound) Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. The cost to hire a private tutor is $90.00/hour or a private teacher at a learning center is $26,000/12 weeks of full-time one-on-one learning both with using Methodology. It is hard to fundraise for Crystal when others who do not have children with these types of learning disorders & think it’s too much to pay for an education & tell you it should be easy to receive an education in the public schools across the United States with an IEP. It does not work that way. 

Horace Mann thought that common schools should not teach vocational training, but instead should offer an education that benefited all. He knew the basis of a quality education is good teachers, so he advocated for trained professional teachers in all public schools. Inadequate instruction troubled Horace Mann as much as broken-down school buildings. Horace Mann developed the special teacher training colleges that he called normal schools. Instruction expertise rose yearly because the normal schools graduated capable teachers and eliminated the unfit. In our public schools today, we do not have capable teachers instead we have the unfit in classrooms across the United States leaving poor quality education for these students. This is totally opposite of what the late Horace Mann advocated for. 

Teachers, Aides, & classmates bullied Crystal at each school she attended. These bullies did not receive punishment for their actions. She has been denied the birth-right of being an American child able to attend public schools that are free, high-quality, equal, & available to all, as promised by the late Horace Mann. She is demanding you to give her that birth-right of being an American child able to attend public schools that are available & equal to all, she is tired of broken promises. There are laws instated across the United States to protect students from being bullied. The Federal Government must enforce & punish those who break these laws.

Even before Horace Mann, President George Washington stated, "Knowledge is in every country the surest basis for public happiness". The members of both Houses of Congress agreed with the response of the President.  We cannot forget Benjamin Franklin, who believed the value of education was its ability to create useful members of a prosperous society. Horace Mann believed the same as Benjamin Franklin that logical thinking resulted in increased funding & better pay for teachers. In our schools today we do not think as these men did, as a result we are cutting funding & pay thus hurting these students. 

I ask you to educate yourselves on these disorders:

Dyslexia: an impairment of the ability to recognize & comprehend written words 

Dyscalculia: an impairment of the ability to solve mathematical problems 

Dysgraphia: an impairment of the ability to write                                                                                              Non-Verbal Learning Disorder: a neurological disorder of the right cerebral hemisphere in which the processing of nonverbal & visual-spatial information is impaired, pattern recognition, mathematical ability, & visual memory

 

I ask you to take a look at the statistics across the United States (third-twelfth grade):

 

Dyslexia: 20% 

Dyscalculia: 6%       

Dysgraphia: 20%

Non-Verbal Learning Disorder: 1 in 1000

There are Federal Laws that have been instated across the United States to protect students with these disorders: Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorders.  These laws are: P.L. 94-142, IDEA, Rehabilitation 504, and A.D.A. Public schools are not obeying these laws & Federal Government does not enforce or punish these schools. The time is now to put a stop to this type of behavior & get back what the late Horace Mann based his principals on for the public schools. 

Horace Mann was known for saying these last words: "I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts these; my parting words: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. (sic)"  Crystal has taken this to heart. She herself is demanding to be allowed to win a victory for humanity by earning a real high school diploma that will allow her to attend a four year college of her choice. 

He explained why he so valued education by saying, “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance-wheel of the social machinery”. Crystal so values education as much as the late Horace Mann. She finds it distasteful when others whose learning comes easily takes it for granted, while others who struggle fight for their education in the public schools across the United States. 

Take this opportunity to give a voice to those who do not have a voice. Help these students become more fulfilled in their lives by receiving an equal & available education in the public schools across the United States allowing them to graduate from college & to give back to society as their peers do.

We as citizens believe these students are vital to our society & economy. We must take back our public schools & find better ways to serve our communities across the United States by making sure our children are educated based on the model of the late Horace Mann. 

These students are as much a part of the future of our country as their peers & should be treated as such.  If we want our country to succeed, these students must succeed & it is our responsibility to educate them successfully. Just as in 1852, Mann wrote to his friend that "The molding of a youthful mind & manners is the noblest work that man or angels could do”. 

In a secure & learning environment, these students will develop new sense of responsibility & commitment to themselves, their fellow classmates, their communities, & our nation. By joining together for this cause, we will be able to bring together what is required to help these students develop a sense of purpose & mission in their lives by allowing these students to earn a real high school diploma & attend a four year college of their choice. 

In addition, we petition the safeguarding of these students in the public schools across the United States against any future plans that would destroy their lives. Presently, the lives of these student’s are being destroyed by the Federal Government not enforcing or punishing the public schools that do not obey the laws set before them to protect students with Mild to Profound Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder.

 By signing this petition you support the curriculum & Methodology that had been Horace Mann's development, & was a creditable program that would help these students with Mild to Profound (mainly Profound) Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder in the public schools across the United States. These students thank you for taking a stand & giving them a voice that will be heard across the United States in public schools & Federal Government.