My family went to Independence High School to try and qualify my 16 year old for Special Education services. To spare her embarrassment, I will call her "Betsy." Every night Betsy slaves over her homework for up to 6 hours. We are convinced that Betsy has (and we have evidence of) a learning disability. "Unfortunately", that hard work has earned her straight A's and B's.

Betsy's hard work and high standardized test scores have barred her from receiving ANY services or EVEN BEING TESTED for a learning disability. The EC Team at Independence High School flatly refuses to help despite the fact that 4 - 5 times the number of man hours and tax payer dollars have been spent telling us "no", than would have been by simply administering the testing. This makes no sense to us. They had the paperwork done and decision already made before we even showed up for the meeting. They could not care less about what my daughter or we, her parents, had to say about her daily struggle with the work.

School should not be so hard for Betsy, and the amount of homework she gets should not take hours. What takes other kids 10-15 minutes can take her an hour or more. Isnt that evidence of a problem? At least two of her teachers have reported Betsy's difficulties with reading comprehension and the length of time needed to complete assignments. But when confronted in front of their administration, for some reason, they deny it - the reasons for which, we still dont understand.

We find it appalling that we were told, and have recorded them saying, that they thought how hard she worked was wonderful, and she should be proud. Betsy was almost in tears and had to leave the room. To her, it's not wonderful that she misses events with friends, and cant attend many after school activities - she knows she has too much work to do. Why should my child be denied services because she works hard to overcome her adversity?

Betsy is struggling to maintain these grades, and cries over her homework on a regular basis - but she never gives up. That is something that should be rewarded, and responded to with help and kindness. Instead, she is treated poorly because her parents are in conflict with the administration over their policies and lack of support.

There is NO law that says they cannot administer the tests that will discern a disability to high performing student - THIS IS THEIR CHOICE, THEY ARE SIMPLY CHOOSING NOT TO.

Betsy is in the ROTC program at Independence High School, and has been described by her Colonel as a "Model Cadet" and that he envisions her as an officer in the Air Force in the future. 

Following in her grandmother's (AF), grandfather's(AF), great grandfather's (Army), and my footsteps (Army), Betsy goes to basic training for the Air Force this coming summer. She wants to waste no time starting a career in the Air Force after graduation. I think any child is deserving of a simple test to at least eliminate the worry of a disability, and start finding solutions to problems, let alone one who has decided to dedicate her life in service to her country.

Please help us in the fight and tell Independence High School to #TestBetsy. Please share this on your social media, with the hashtag #TestBetsy.