Introduction
As has been the case for many students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges of remote learning threatened to derail the education of a 13-year-old boy living in New Vineyard, Maine, who began struggling, in the absence of strong instructor support, to grasp what he was being taught in the virtual classroom. After repeatedly receiving inadequate responses from his teachers concerning her son’s situation, the boy’s mother decided to transfer her son out of the school district, stating, “I just wasn’t going to set my son up to fail.” In the end, she was able to successfully obtain permission to enroll her son in a nearby school system. “He’s at the top of his class now,” his mother said, “He went from failing to being an A student in all his classes, just about.”
She said what has made the difference is that the teachers in their new school district “care” and “want to see [her son] succeed.” Although clearly in her son’s best interest, she unfortunately encountered pushback from her home school district while working to obtain the necessary agreement. Thankfully, as a result of her perseverance, she prevailed in her efforts to get her son into a learning environment where he was able to receive the appropriate educational support, but it goes to show that under current law in Maine, parents do not have the level of flexibility and freedom needed to ensure their children can receive the best possible education available. After having experienced the tremendous benefits of choice firsthand, this mother detailed the need for a more open public school landscape in Maine: “This could help a lot of people I know.”