The hechinger Report

Screening revealed that Brooke had dyslexia — a common learning disability stemming from neurological differences that make it difficult to identify sounds and associate them with letters and words. When her private school told the Simmons family they would have to shell out up to $10,000 a year for once-a-week personalized reading instruction and other services, they decided to transfer their daughter to Louisiana Key Academy, a public charter school. The school, which serves more than 700 students on three campuses in the state, was co-founded in 2013 by Laura Cassidy, a retired breast cancer surgeon whose husband is Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy — the new chair of the Senate committee whose role includes overseeing education. The Cassidys have a daughter with dyslexia and have long advocated for similar students and their families. Laura Cassidy said in a December phone interview that she doesn’t believe Congress will make sweeping cuts to federal special education funding. “I don’t think that’s going to go away,” said Cassidy, but if it does, she hopes the state will make up the difference.