LaShanta Mire’s daughter was, at least on paper, thriving at her public school in Fort Worth, Texas. Her grades were good. The then-second grader was ostensibly learning to read and was performing at the level expected of kids her age.
But the child’s assessments told a different story: She did not yet know how to read. She was missing out on critical content. She wasn’t performing at grade level.
Mire, like possibly millions of parents across the U.S., received flawed information about her daughter and her two other school-aged children. After realizing there was a mismatch between her perceptions and the realities of how her child was faring academically, the single mother of five took it upon herself to find a parent group. The group helped Mire navigate school bureaucracies, engage with educators and seek information such as test scores. As soon as she got the information she needed, Mire transferred the three oldest children to new schools last fall.
