In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council Bluffs Community School District adopted a language arts program called "StudySync." This program has replaced the reading of novels and drastically stunted the educational growth of students. Instead of presenting students with complete narratives and the full depth of a story, StudySync only provides the reader with excerpts from a larger text. In this manner, StudySync strips students of the ability to critically engage with written materials, confining students to just functional literacy. Without reading novels, it is nearly impossible for students to achieve high levels of linguistic comprehension and deep understandings of written English unless they devote their free time to reading. In an education system obsessed with scores and data, it is counterproductive to prioritize such limited exposure to literature. Furthermore, learning should be something enjoyable, but most students and teachers find StudySync tedious and unengaging. This makes the program both boring and ineffective, ultimately stunting academic growth

The solution is clear: we need to get rid of StudySync and teach kids with actual books. In an age of fast-paced, digital communication and "AI slop," critical thinking is more important than ever. StudySync's approach, characterized by shallow texts, fundamentally fails to prepare students for the world's rapidly changing technological and social environment.

If StudySync continues to replace education and learning materials, students will not receive the education they need to critically analyze and use written English. This will inevitably stunt their success in college and the workforce, where they will be expected to have high levels of writing and reading comprehension. This is unacceptable. StudySync fundamentally fails students and educators. It poses far too many disadvantages to be worthwhile.

Every day, every week, and every year, we are losing valuable time that could have been spent acquiring relevant information. It has now been five years since CBCSD adopted StudySync. I encourage you to reflect on how unsuccessful this program has been. When reading and writing scores continue to drop, as they have since COVID, we ought to reconsider the way we are teaching kids. Clearly, StudySync is not in sync with the needs of our students, teachers, or district. The time to act is now. With your help, we can move towards better education, without StudySync!