Keisse Lira did not get why her eight-year-old daughter kept coming home from school with low scores on work, complaining that she was confused and overwhelmed.

“Seeing her grades and saying, ‘I’m sorry, Mommy, I tried, but I just can’t understand what they say. It is too hard,’” said Lira, whose children attend Chase Elementary, a Chicago public school in Logan Square on the Northwest Side.

Two weeks into this school year, Lira got the answer. A letter from the principal said the school did not have the staff to provide the support Lira’s daughter was legally due. The girl has a learning disability and is supposed to get individualized lessons and a special education teacher accompanying her in some classes.

“Out of 450 minutes of academic support that she needed, she will receive zero

See Full Page