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(hummingbird whooshing)

(gentle music)

(no audio)

(vehicle honking) (somber music)

[Fatima] What's it say?

- [Aden] Can I see in this fog?

[Fatima] Mm-hmm

- [Aden] It.

- [Fatima] Is.

- [Aden] It is.

- [Fatima] No, just is.

- [Aden] Is.

(tense music)

- [Fatima] Let's do this one

and then we finish.

- [Aden] Don.

- [Fatima] Don't.

- [Aden] Don't hear.

- [Aden] Have.

- [Aden] Have

to, k, came.

- [Fatima] Come. - [Fatima] Come.

- [Fatima] Mm-hmm.

- [Aden] Said.

Oh.

(tense music)

- [Aden] I didn't know this word.

- [Fatima] You do know this word.

(tense music)

- [Aden] That V or a Y?

- [Fatima] That is a D.

- [Aden] A V.

- [Fatima] No. - [Aden] No, this.

- [Fatima] You want me to tell you what the letter is?

(tense dramatic music)

My son is in the second grade.

He cannot read, he cannot write.

If I don't support him,

I know what lies ahead in this country for him.

(upbeat music)

♪ Angry ♪

♪ You made me angry ♪

♪ No place for people like me ♪

♪ Trouble ♪

♪ You think it's funny ♪

♪ Broken, disappointed, and wrong ♪

♪ I'm different ♪

♪ The weakest ♪

♪ Last chance ♪

♪ They just can't do it ♪

♪ I try ♪

♪ I cry ♪

♪ I can't ♪

♪ Just can't do it ♪

♪ Trouble ♪

♪ You think it's funny ♪

♪ Broken, disappointed, and wrong ♪

♪ Angry ♪

♪ Where are all the people like me ♪

(no audio)

(water lapping)

(vehicle honking)

(bag rustling)

- [Naomi] You ready?

(door creaking)

One day, I just remember being at the table with him

and having like a hard talk conversation

and I said, you know, "What's going on?

Like what is it that is stopping you

from getting your work done?"

And he said, "Mom, it feels like my brain won't let me."

- [Lucas] It's kind of hard to describe, but it's like

you can say A and it would sound like E or B.

The teachers just give us homework and said, "Do it."

I just gave up.

I kinda just talk my mom not to bring me to school.

- For me to own up to the fact

that the public school system that I completely embrace

and advocate for and fight for is not built for my son,

it's like a breakup.

But if I leave him in the public school system,

I will lose him.

[Naomi] Okay bye, buddy. I love you.

[Naomi] Hello? (chuckles)

I wanna thank everyone on DOE

for taking this call.

I appreciate you Lizette, for organizing it.

What I wanna do is do just quick intros.

[Naomi] My name is Naomi Pena.

I'm the President of the Community Education Council

for School District One

representing the Lower East Side and East Village.

Three of my four kids are dyslexic.

(sentimental music)

When my oldest son was six, he was in the first grade,

he started to have reading challenges.

I got my son evaluated.

The outcome was that he was severely dyslexic

and needed support.

What ensued was years of turmoil

from teasing from other kids about his reading

to downright harassment at times from teachers

who claimed that my son didn't care about his education.

(sighs)

His self-esteem was battered

and he has had years of therapy

to help him through all those feelings.

Fast forward three kids later,

I now have a young child with severe dyslexia

just like his older brother.

I stand by and firmly believe

in the public school system as an institution.

But watching my 11-year-old son

experience the same thing

that my 21-year-old son did at his age

has been the most heartbreaking experience of my life.

(melancholic instrumental music)

- [Johanna] Dyslexia actually isn't a bad thing.

It just means you learn differently.

- [Hospital Staff] We're not going all the way in,

just that.

- [Dr. Gaab] There's these highways in the brain.

Some of these connections

seem to be developing atypically in children with dyslexia.

[Dr. Gaab] To the right side of your brain.

Children with dyslexia have the primary problem

with the word recognition piece.

So we often see problems with remembering,

which sounds the letters make,

maybe the names of the letters.

Blending these sounds together and making words.

- [Announcer] Your job is to prepare the first sound.

- And if you intervene early,

we know that their outcome's much, much better

than if you wait till late elementary school.

(gentle music)

- [Johanna] Department of Education says we accept all kids,

but they're not given the resources,

the tools, the knowledge.

It's there to actually support that student.

When you look at the 20% of the population

is impacted by dyslexia

and it's not being addressed,

what's being communicated is that they're expendable.

(children chattering)

- [Naomi] I can't like let another year go by.

Like I literally could not sleep at night. (chuckles dryly)

There's no way.

No way I can let this kid continue to fail for another year.

(gentle music)

- [Ruth] It wasn't until probably the end of first grade

that my son was diagnosed with dyslexia.

I was like, oh my god, what does this mean?

And I had no idea.

- [Emily] Jasper, you want one more?

The principal would be like,

"Well, I think you need to see a therapist

and we think there's some anxiety."

And, you know, whatever.

It was always everything except for,

hey, like we're not teaching your kid

to read the way that they need to.

- [Akeela] Zaiden.

(knocking on door)

I was told point blank

that there is not a program

in the New York City Public School system

that's gonna teach your dyslexic kid reading and writing.

[Akeela] Hi honey, can you come down and try to eat something?

And I was like, how is this possible?

(children chattering and laughing)

- [Johanna] When you have a child with dyslexia,

whether you like it or not,

you become an activist

because you're instantly drawn to other people

that are going through the same thing.

- [Parent] 8:30 I would get them.

- [Akeela] Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Emily.

- As I think back on it,

there is an organic way that we came together.

All of us have kids who are struggling with this.

- [Jeanine] You meet parents on the playground,

you're like, wait a minute.

There's a lot of people have this same problem that I have.

- This was not about our own kids.

This was deeper into the public school system at large.

- [Ruth] We have to give them three activities,

three short term outcomes.

- Right now there is not a single public school

in New York City that serves students who are dyslexic.

From that perspective, it's a no brainer.

There's definitely a need.

- One in every 300 Americans

is a New York City Public School student.

It is a whole universe. It's a whole world.

- And one school will just begin to address that need

but you have to start somewhere.

- [Akeela] Why hasn't structured literacy been in the classroom?

What has been the barrier?

You know, it's not like you just take a private school model

and plop it onto kids of color in public school.

- [Emily] They'll have to have the ability to fail. And fail big.

- [Naomi Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Emily said to me, "I think Jeannine and I

are gonna start a school for kids with dyslexia."

I just was like, good luck with that one.

- It's not gonna happen like next week.

- At the time when they approached me,

Emily had mentioned what they were working on.

I was like, that's wonderful, that's great.

You know, I was like, what do you want from me? (laughs)

Like, go ahead.

- With math. - Yes.

- I sat with it for a little bit

and I was like, do I wanna try

and be a part of this to actually change the system?

They are community activists.

They are movers and shakers

and they know how to bring about change.

(children chattering)

[Freya] Let's read this passage.

- [Child] Okay?

- Do you notice the vowel pattern?

V, C, C, V.

[Freya] My first teaching job after I graduated,

the kids were first graders.

They didn't know how to read

and it hit me, it's my job.

I need to teach them how to read and I have no,

I don't know how to teach them how to read.

There was one teacher who said to me,

"Do you know about this trick that you can use?"

- [Child] Okay.

Kevin has- - Wait.

What's the first syllable?

- Cal.

- [Freya] And the second syllable?

- Vin.

- [Freya] Good.

- Calvin has a lodge

at the edge.

- And it like blew my mind.

There's an actual strategy, there's a way to do this, right?

What happens if you take off the S?

What are you left with?

I decided, you know what?

I'm gonna go back to school again

and I'm gonna get a second master's degree.

This time I'm gonna do literacy K through 12.

But there was very little about how to teach reading.

We weren't really taught what dyslexia means,

how to spot a dyslexic student, none of that.

And so, I finished that master's

and I realized I still don't know

how to teach kids really how to read.

So we're gonna actually move on.

We're gonna read some sentences together, okay?

That's dumbfounding.

So that's when I was like, okay,

I think I need to do this on my own.

(somber music)

[Kareem]- I think many people reflect on our years in grad school

getting our teacher certificate

and we think, man, I should get a refund.

So I was a teacher for a long time

and then I was a vice principal, the principal,

and did some central office work and all that stuff.

So, I worked the way up through the system

and at every level the system was the same problem.

I didn't see a focus on reading.

I didn't see foundational skills.

I didn't see support for kids who struggled.

Didn't see some common sense things

that needed to be happening.

And I was able, along with some colleagues,

I had to really get kids where they needed to be.

- [Moderator] We have Kareem Weaver coming up.

- [Akeela] I want our team to be able to say to him,

would you please be our top consultant

and work closely with us in the creation of this school?

- [Kareem] Good afternoon, everyone.

- [Akeela] Hi. - [Kareem] Good afternoon.

- The Manhattan crew, huh?

(participant laughing)

[Kareem] Well, I'm a West Coast guy

and I actually was in charge

of managing the innovative schools portfolio.

And one of the schools was for dyslexic students.

I stepped back and said, I'm gonna work on literacy

and getting our kids to read.

That's why I'm working with the NAACP.

But this is a civil rights issue

and you don't need racist actors to produce racist outcomes.

And we're telling you,

this is contributing to racist outcomes.

- Right. - Right.

- You have so much knowledge in these areas.

We would love the opportunity for you to consult with us.

- [Kareem] I want you all to be successful.

Kids need you.

(sentimental music)

- [Akeela] You learn to read in school

and if you don't learn to read in school,

what's happening to you?

Where are you going?

- [Kareem] The school to prison pipeline is not some myth.

It's fueled by dyslexics.

47 to 50% of people who are incarcerated are dyslexic.

(sentimental music)

- [Akeela] Prisons here in New York City Rikers Island

have collected some data.

One of the things that we found

was that 60 to 80% of the incarcerated youth

have reading and writing disabilities.

You know, it was shocking to see numbers like that.

- [Kareem] I'm gonna flip it on you.

43% of self-made millionaires are dyslexic.

So, it can go either way.

The question is who has the support and the resources

to go left instead of right.

[Kareem] It's still nobody that's gonna teach you how to read,

they just gonna give you more time to struggle.

- [Elijah] Yeah.

- [Kareem] I'm teaching other people's kids how to read

and my own nephew is at home just struggling.

- [Elijah] I had a hard time when I was in school,

Like I would be guessing the words

and sometimes they're correct, sometimes they're not.

Majority of times they're not.

I just thought that I was just dumb.

Like I just wasn't getting it

or something was really wrong with me.

I didn't have no purpose.

I felt like I had no purpose in life

and I got into some trouble in the 12th grade

and then I end up incarcerated.

Did I know that I would end up incarcerated?

No.

You know, but I feel like they gave up on me

and they didn't support me.

Being in the Department of Juvenile Justice,

they had a teacher and he got me tested

and he was just like, he was like,

"Did anybody ever tell you that you were dyslexic?"

I said, "No."

I said, "What is that?"

- [Kareem] I mean, if you think about it, what if you had found out

that you was dyslexic- - [Elijah] Earlier?

- [Kareem] Yeah, earlier. - [Elijah] I got a lot of chances.

- [Kareem] Man, second grade, third grade, something like that.

Man, it would've been a whole different kid now.

[Kareem] What if he didn't go to jail?

What if he never went to jail?

That's what I always think about,

it's almost like a blessing.

As crazy as it sounds,

it's almost a blessing he got locked up.

At least then he get some help.

You shouldn't have to learn to read when you're locked up.

(phone ringing)

(phone ringing continues)

- [Announcer] Leave a brief message at the beep.

(phone beeps)

- [Fatima] I'm looking to get my 7-year-old

that's in second grade assessed for dyslexia.

If you could please give me a call.

Thank you and have a good day.

(gentle music)

[Fatima] Well, Aden's always been a little different

since like a baby.

So my oldest son, he could read.

By Aden's age, he was reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

and "Captain Underpants."

Aden reads nothing.

He understands the letter, like this is A.

He cannot tell you that it makes a.

I'm worried that he's gonna be illiterate,

like I'm saying this all the time.

He plays chess in after school with the fifth graders

that lets you know this boy is smart, he just needs help.

[Fatima] Okay, let me read this.

I call these different places.

The test is like 4,000, 6,000, $8,000 dollars

The authorization forms.

I call another group

and that group will do it with Medicaid.

They have a one year waiting list.

So I don't have a year to give.

[Fatima] For Aden's neuropsych evaluation that needs.

Logically, this doesn't make sense.

If I tell the teacher, "He's not reading,

I'm having some concerns."

It should have just been like,

"Well Fatima, let's get him tested.

If you're worried about him reading,

let's put some things to bed and we should get him tested."

Why is that not a response from teachers?

And I'm not blaming the teacher

but that should be the automatic response.

- [Announcer] Hello, you have reached the Earth School.

If you know your- (phone beeping)

(phone ringing)

- [Akeela] They've very infrequently diagnose a child

with dyslexia in the DOE.

- [Johanna] There is a resistance from schools.

They weren't even allowed to say dyslexia

because if you knew your rights as a parent,

it would trigger services.

When the parent first hears of neuropsych,

they have no idea what that means.

A neuropsychologist is someone

who understand how the brain works

and understands how learning works.

And you need those two things

to be able to provide a holistic evaluation,

a report of what your child's learning needs are.

- [Fatima] I have a 7-year-old son.

I would like to get him evaluated

and I wanted to know like how do we go about this?

I'm sorry, this is my first time.

I just have the list.

- [Staff] That's all right.

So you have the assessment authorization?

- [Fatima] It's like, I don't know how to help my son,

but I know something is wrong

and I've been saying something is wrong for years.

(sentimental music)

- [Akeela] We've known dyslexia.

We've had that diagnosis for decades.

So, when you build an entire system

where you are intentionally removing,

diagnosing kids with it,

that means you're also removing it

from teachers learning how to teach children

who have this diagnosis.

You're also removing it from school psychologists,

being able to diagnose children.

That's up to 20% of your population.

It's a tremendous amount of kids.

(sentimental music)

- [Akeela] A ba ba booshaka.

- [Akeela] Good morning, sunshine.

[Akeela] Are you ready?

[Akeela] So unfortunately, Soleil hated school in kindergarten.

I mean she cried every morning.

She did not want to go to school.

She also has dyslexia.

She wasn't doing the work in class, but she needed more time,

she wanted to finish

and other kids could finish their work

and she didn't have the time to finish her work.

And the teacher tried to just get her to stop

but she didn't want to.

She's like, "No, I want to finish my work."

All of the signs of a learning disability

were interpreted as behavioral problems.

- [Soleil] One time I was just asking questions

and this teacher didn't know what I was saying.

So she just took me to the principal's office.

- [Akeela] What a horrible statement to a child

at five years old, right,

about whether they belong in this classroom or not.

Is there a space for them?

[Akeela] Okay, come, you gotta brush your hair.

[Akeela] You're not educating a kid

that you send out of the classroom.

[Zaiden] Seriously.

(sentimental music)

- [Soleil] There's no water.

- [Akeela] Their diagnoses are different.

I mean they both have dyslexia,

but Zaiden has additional things.

And my father totally was dyslexic and dysgraphic,

but I didn't realize it until Zaiden.

I was like, oh yeah,

my dad can't write or spell any word at 75.

- [Soleil] Can't.

Yeah.

- [Akeela] But, you know, a Black man in Philadelphia

enduring Jim Crow,

who's gonna say maybe you have a reading disability.

He was not able to graduate high school.

He got his GED in the army

and became a very successful musician

but it was always a challenge for him.

- [Naomi] When we were going to consider looking at private schools,

Raul I said, "I don't want him to struggle the way I did."

And I was like, huh.

- [Hektad] You have a kid and he says, "Dad, I'm stupid."

You know, when I read it gives me a headache

and I see the words different

and I'm like, that's how I was.

I didn't even know what it was

but who brought it to my attention was Naomi.

She's like, "You never thought that maybe you're dys."

I'm like, "What the hell does that mean?"

And then she broke it down at me

and I'm like, "Damn, maybe I am."

- [Naomi] That's like the first time he acknowledged

he struggled, you know?

'Cause he is always been the art guy

who always emphasized his art.

So, the fact that he acknowledged it,

that was a turning point.

Realizing like he's not alone in this

and that his kids were similar.

- [Hektad] Whenever I write something on a wall,

I gotta make sure like take a screenshot,

send it to Naomi and spell check it.

- [Naomi] I mean he still uses language of like, "I'm dumb.

I don't get that.

You're smarter than me, Naomi."

That's something that starts when you're young, right?

- [Hektad] Family, F-A-M-I-L-Y.

- [Naomi] Any parent, not just him,

but any parent just wants best for their children.

They want better than what they had.

(lighthearted music)

- [Akeela] Hi.

- [Naomi] Hi.

[School Principal] Welcome.

So do you want a tour of the whole school?

- [Naomi] Like whatever you wanna give us.

- Yeah. - [Naomi] We are here.

We are your guests.

- [Akeela] We went to see a lot of different examples

of what kind of special education spaces

operate really well.

- [School Principal] All the kids are in a classroom

of either 12 or eight kids.

One teacher, two assistants.

All the children get speech therapy.

- [Naomi] You have rolling admissions here?

- [School Principal] Yes. Yep.

As long as we have openings,

we take kids in all year round.

- [Akeela] Hi. - [Naomi] Good morning, guys.

- [Akeela]] Good morning.

- [Teacher] Hi, boys and girls.

[Akeela] Not one of us knows everything it takes to build a school.

It really takes a community to create a school.

[Akeela] Hi. Hi.

Thank you for having us.

- [Teacher] Circle time we do a lot of literacy.

So we're working on letter recognition.

They're learning how to spell out their name.

So I usually just let them to see they know

and then I'll just like-

- [Naomi] You'll prompt them. - [Teacher] Prompt them, exactly.

- [Akeela] We're really in the process

of forming a community around literacy.

[Akeela] Can I take a picture of that? - [Principal] Yeah, of course.

- [Akeela] Notice those words outside on the-

- [Principal] Yeah.

- [Akeela] Are those like the core values?

- [Principal] Yes, yeah.

So you are dealing with families mostly in poverty.

So having a child with a disability

is just one more thing.

- [Naomi] I really do think that we need to be in a space

where we can have the most impact.

And I think in the South Bronx

is definitely that most impact area.

(train rattling)

- [Fatima] I'm talking about school.

- [Aden] I said- - [Fatima] You didn't answer

my question.

- [Aden] I did.

- [Aden] Aden told the teacher,

"I don't have any pens or paper in the house."

My son is lying saying, oh, I can't do the writing activity

'cause I don't have pen and paper.

And he didn't wanna show his work

because he knew he would have to read.

And for the first time I see my child have shame

and this boy has no shame.

He is boastful, he's bold, he's competitive.

My kid is trying to learn

how to camouflage himself and that's sad.

Like if you ask Aden what his favorite thing is to do,

I like lunch and recess and playing with my friends

because everything else, guess what?

It has words and letters

and he doesn't understand any of that.

(sentimental music)

If Aden turns into getting upset or angry or frustrated

when he can't read in class,

he's gonna be seen as he's acting out,

we should suspend him.

And then it just compounds into more things,

more things, more things.

(sentimental music)

- [Kareem] Our kids are in there making executive decisions

about how they wanna show up in the world.

They're put in a situation where survival says,

I'll just be quiet.

And that's when kids get ignored.

(sentimental music)

[Kareem] Imagine being a child in seventh grade

(tense music)

and you can't really read or you struggle to read,

you can do it, but it's tough.

It's grinding and it's embarrassing.

You have all these kids around you.

(tense music)

And here you are,

you can barely sound out the word cat.

(thunder rumbling)

And they call on you.

What you supposed to do?

The kids will do anything to avoid that situation.

(alarm blaring)

In fact, after a while they realize,

I can't afford to get in that situation to begin with.

They cut up before they even get to class.

They cut up five minutes into class.

Before you call on me,

I'm gonna prevent this whole thing from popping off.

We can cuss, we can fuss, we can fight,

we can argue, anything,

but I'm not gonna let this lady call on me

and embarrass me in front of all these kids.

No.

(tense upbeat music)

That's not gonna happen.

(tense upbeat music)

- [Johanna] This is why I think

it is a dereliction of public service

when you don't address dyslexia early on

and see who's getting left behind.

If you don't know there's this all the world

that you don't have access to because of economics,

then you're like, hey, this is all I deserve.

- [Teacher] Sound is I-G-H me.

- [teacher] I. - [Student] I.

- [Student] I.

- [Joahnna] It is not a secret what will support them.

The research is there.

And when you go look at what's going on

in these private schools where the majority of the students

come from affluent families,

you're thinking of how many of the Black and Brown families

that are going through the same thing

are not getting those education services.

(vehicle honking)

- [Lucas] Purple things on the bottom right

are my abilities.

- [Naomi] I realized if I didn't do anything and intervene now,

it wasn't gonna help him.

I was concerned pulling him out if I needed to

in the middle of the year to a new school environment.

Actually when I had a conversation with him,

I said, "Look dude, you know how you have a harder time

figuring out words.

You know how you have a harder time with math.

There are schools with other kids that are just like you

and they can make it fun,

and they can make it where you can understand it

and they won't move along and leave you behind."

He actually for once was like, "What?"

That's a thing?" (laughs)

I saw him like a little light light up

and now he's at a point where he's eager.

He's like waiting.

He's a really brilliant kid.

He's super creative.

I'm gonna have to start reviewing

what other options there are out there for me

because the public school system is not it.

(somber music)

- [Akeela] There is an approach to learning and a style of learning

that they just won't get at the public school they're in.

(somber music)

We're looking for a school outside of the DOE

and I spent close to $15,000 this year alone

on just evaluations.

Okay, so that's like, that's how incredibly expensive it is.

You know, insanity.

(somber music)

We submitted everything to the school

to which they said, no, we can't do this

or we can't do this or we can't do that.

The things that the kids need.

Mommy, when am I gonna learn to read?

I really wanna learn to read.

(somber music)

(sighs)

You're like, I feel like a deer in the headlights

in this process a lot.

Just like in a frozen state,

like is this gonna be okay?

(somber music)

- [Johanna] Once you as a parent have a neuropsych evaluation report,

there's a conversation about this is what your child needs

to learn in the school setting.

If the school is not able to provide those services,

that's a failure on them.

So you need legal representation

and you end up suing the Department of Education

for failure to educate your child.

When this child is at another school

outside of the public school system,

it's because the parent felt they had no choice.

And it takes a lawsuit sometimes.

(siren blaring)

(trolley rattling)

- [Fatima] Yes. I'm picking up Aden.

I'm his mother.

(door buzzes)

- [receptionist] Aden. I already called him.

- [Fatima] You know, they can't diagnose it at the school.

- [Receptionist] Okay.

- [Fatima] So I'm trying to get a different type

of evaluation called a neuropsych eval.

- [receptionist] Okay.

- [Fatima] So I'm just kinda fighting with that right now.

- [receptionist] Yeah.

- [Fatima] But he definitely has all the signs,

which I already knew.

- [Receptionist] Yeah.

- [Fatima] All right. So thank you, Aden.

Say bye.

- [Recptionist] See you tomorrow.

- [Fatima] Say okay.

[Fatima]You too. Take care.

Thank you so much.

We live in the projects

but you speak to my kids, they're well-spoken.

People would never expect my oldest

to have a Google internship.

[Fatima] How you doing?

[Fatima] I was diagnosed with ADHD in the early '90s.

I was like the first set of kids.

I didn't have the supports that I needed to make it,

but I'm smart and this is how I got invited to boards

because people were like, "How did you get this far

by yourself with no help?

How did you know to write Albany?"

[Fatima] Hold my hand.

It's not that I was the silent mom that didn't know,

I'm active.

I'm on SLT boards,

I go to PTA meetings, I volunteer,

I go on all the field trips.

You don't have to end up like what you come from.

We gonna beat the odds.

[Fatima] Wanna race?

- [Aden] Yeah.

- [Fatima] On your mark, set, go. (giggles)

- [Naomi] In a city like New York that's so diverse.

- [Fatima] I bring the key.

- [Naomi] And in a school system

that is over 70% children of color,

the fact that we have resigned

that a major portion of them are just never gonna read,

I think is offensive to me

and speaks to why this needed to change.

(bright music)

I am of the opinion that if you want to change things,

you need to put yourself in positions

where you are having those conversations with those people.

(bright music)

- [Jeanine] Hey you. - [Caroline] Hi.

- [Ruth] This is Caroline- - [Jeanine] Hi, Caroline.

- [Ruth] In the flesh. - Yes, in the flesh.

(bright music)

- [Participant] I talk about implicit bias.

My other I is intentionality.

(bright music)

- [Naomi] You are meeting with people who have some power,

but ultimately if this is not part of the mayor's agenda,

it's never gonna happen.

(bright music)

[Naomi] So, I got a call this morning

because the mayor is going to be at one of my schools

and this is exactly the community

that the school is intended to serve.

This whole roll is part of my district.

This is all public housing.

In a system of mayoral control,

he is the guy that calls the shots at the end of the day.

Ultimately he needs to know that

there's a group of moms trying to work this through.

We're having these meetings, we're having conversations,

we're proving our point

and lots of people are patting us on the head

and saying, "Good job."

But no one's giving us the green light.

If I can pin him down, my hope is that he will say,

let's talk about it.

I'm gonna get on the call with you.

If that is dead on arrival, the next step is literally

to launch a public shaming campaign.

That's the only way anything gets done in the city.

So, I am going to make my presence known.

- [Announcer] Please continue to stand on the sideline.

(attendees cheering and applauding)

- [Naomi] I'm gonna walk in here with you guys.

I wasn't invited but you know?

You know how we do.

- [Announcer] We're cheering for teachers.

- [Mom] Say hi, Blasio.

(attendees cheering)

- [Mayor DeBlasio] There is no stopping

the New York City public schools.

(attendees cheering and applauding)

And there is no stopping New York City.

[Announcer] We got it. We got it.

Let's do this.

(attendees cheering and applauding)

- [Mayor DeBlasio] Aim high. - [meisha] You did it.

- [Naomi] Mayor, can I get two minutes of your time?

- [Mayor DeBlasio] Yes.

- Do we have the chancellor around?

Yes, I guess that would be convenient.

- [Naomi] Yes. Hi, Naomi from CEC1 president.

How are you? - [Meisha] Hi. How are you?

So nice to meet you.

- [Naomi] Good, good.

So here's the thing, I'm part of a team

that is trying to build a first ever dyslexia school.

- [Mayor DeBlasio] I love it.

- [Naomi] What I need is a green light.

- [Mayor DeBlasio] Hold on. - [Meisha] Okay, all right.

(Naomi laughs)

- [Naomi] I wanna give you this. - [Meisha] But I wanna do it right.

- [Naomi] I wanna give you this. - [Meisha] Give me this.

- [Naomi] I wanna give you this. - [Mayor DeBlasio] We got to do it fair

to everyone. - [Meisha] And we'll follow up.

- [DeBlasio] Let's get on it.

- [Meisha] Okay, we definitely will.

- [Naomi] Okay, who's gonna follow up with me?

I need an answer.

(Meisha laughs)

[Naomi] Who are you? - [Danielle] Danielle Filson.

- [Naomi] Okay. Oh yeah, okay.

[Meisha] It's pleasure. - We will follow up.

- [Naomi] Pleasure meeting you. - [Meisha] I know you will find us

if we don't.

- [Naomi] You know it. - [Meisha] You are that parent.

- [Naomi] You know it. - [Meisha] Yes, I do.

- [Naomi] You know it, that is why this is my district.

I'm relentless.

Clearly they know this. (laughs)

- [Meisha] I need a commitment.

- [Johanna] For these parents that wanted to open the school,

they needed to get someone's attention,

making others accountable

to the promise of doing something about dyslexia.

But one of the key things is actually to do a pilot program.

(dramatic piano music)

You have to convince the Department of Education

and the mayor that it's worth the investment

to allocate dollars

to teach children system-wide on how to read.

- [Freya] This is our chance to show them that we are for real.

(dramatic piano music)

And we're doing this pilot to create this school

which will hopefully be like this lab school

and to make systemic change.

(dramatic piano music)

Today we are getting our list of students.

So we're gonna go through that list

and assess them to figure out

which kids we think would benefit from intervention.

(dramatic piano music fades)

I had one girl who she said, "I'll do some math with you

but I don't read."

[Freya] You okay?

- [Student] Yes.

- [Freya] I know it's hard with the masks, right?

I'm sorry. Okay.

And I said, "Really?

Can you give it a shot?"

[Freya] So just do your best to read them.

- [Freya] Yes.

- [Child] Landed?

- [Freya] Landed. - [Freya] You got it, yep.

We're testing how many words correct per minute.

I want the kids to start feeling better about themselves

and to start to see themselves as readers.

- [Child] Bigger swings.

Swinging?

- [Freya] Certain kids that gave it their best shot

didn't know letter sounds or knew some letter sounds

but could not blend them together at all.

So they could look at a word

and see like, okay.

Okay, you know, that's D-O-G

but they couldn't put it together.

When we did the pre-pilot assessments

and we entered it into the database,

what we were seeing was so many kids in red.

Red is kids that require intensive support.

This is why we need to do this school,

this is why we need to do this pilot.

- [Kareem] There are some good curricula out there.

It's important what you choose, curriculum matters.

There are a lot of great people who are using programs

that are ineffective for our kids.

But what you gotta have are people who are learners.

If you don't have that experience or training,

are you open to learning it?

If teachers knew how to teach a child to read

and just chose not to,

I'd be on a whole different page.

My assumption is that folks are doing the best they can

with what they have.

(crowd chattering)

- [Teacher] Yeah, good morning.

- [Freya] One of the things that happens a lot

in the DOE and with schools,

the training is sort of like turnkey training

- [Video] Understanding dyslexia.

- [Freya] Teachers are sent to training

sometimes a week long training, sometimes it's an afternoon.

- [Presenter] The videos are only two to three minutes long.

- [Freya] And then those teachers go back to their schools

and they train the rest of the teachers in the building.

And then the school says they're all trained.

They're not trained.

- [Naomi] Our goal is to see what can happen

if we had teachers fully trained

doing the work with our students.

The goal in this school, it would be completely immersive.

So it'll actually transition to social studies, to math.

But the fact that we know these children will progress

even next couple of weeks

is gonna give us the hope that we need.

- [Freya] The work is ongoing

and this is sort of a truncated version.

We have this training this week

and then next week we're throwing you with the kids.

(bright music)

- [Emily] Basically it's breaking down words

into their smallest parts

and it's teaching it systematically

and then it builds off of each other.

So the skills, it's really targeting

foundational reading skills

that will make her just a much stronger reader.

- [Emily] Guys, I would have the classes

a lot of you are just getting.

(bright music)

- [Teacher] Nice.

- [Teacher] Today we have a new sound we're going to learn

and that sound is r.

So today we are going to practice making the sound r

and writing our letter that makes the sound r.

Okay?

- [Students] R. - [Students] R.

- [Freya] Structured literacy,

it's an evidence-based approach towards teaching literacy.

- [Teacher] As soon as you get your skills book

please turn to page 31.

- [Freya] So it's sequential, it's cumulative.

- [Teacher And Students] Three, two, one.

- [Freya] Multisensory, it's explicit.

Like that's the key word.

They say skills need to be taught explicitly.

- [Teacher] Here we go, we're gonna do these together.

- [Teacher And Students] Said. - [Teacher And Students] Sad.

- [Teacher] S.

A. - [Students And Teacher] A.

- [Teacher] Back up to the cloud line

and curve away from the red.

- [Freya] When you do structured literacy,

you're actually creating different neurological pathways

and there's been studies that have done comparing

looking at like children's brains

before this type of instruction and after,

and you are actually changing their brain.

- [Teacher] What kind of letter is?

- [Student] Curvy. - [Teacher] Curvy, is it tall or short?

- [Student] Tall. - [Teacher] Thank you.

- [Freya] So there was one student who loved it.

I said, how is this different from

the way you have learned to read in the past?

And she said, now I know what to do

when I get to a long word.

So I said, well what do you do?

They took my pencil.

So you look for the vowels, you underline the vowels

and then you draw the line.

And then you read the first syllable

and then you read the second syllable

and then you just mush them together.

They got the process.

- [Teacher] Go ahead, loud and proud, nice and smooth.

- [Student] Dad had a rag.

- [Teacher] Excellent, dad had a rag, right?

- [Teacher] Everyone say rectangle.

- [Freya] The dyslexic kids, they need this all day, every day.

- [Teacher] A.

Look at this, the last sound.

- [Freya] These kids got structured literacy

two hours a day Monday through Thursday for five weeks.

- [Teacher] It's because you're becoming a stronger reader.

That's why.

- [Freya] And we know like we know that it works.

(uplifting music)

I don't know what's gonna happen.

I feel like we all sort of always go back

to what's our next step

but we need to get that green light.

- [Akeela] Come on, let's go.

We have gotten to a point

where we have demonstrated our skill,

we've demonstrated our knowledge,

we've demonstrated our concept.

It's time to pull the lever on this one.

(uplifting music)

- [Fatima] It says goodnight, iPad.

So there used to be a book called "Goodnight Moon."

I read it to your brother but this one is iPad.

So it's like a joke, it's called a parody.

Says good morning, Fatima.

A neuropsychological evaluation

is not necessary at this time.

At this point I do not see anyone

who would diagnose Aden with dyslexia.

I remember asking you if Aden had ever been truly exposed

to an explicit reading program.

- [Fatima] Just count the pages.

In order to give a proper diagnosis of dyslexia,

child would need to have been exposed

to an explicit reading program and had consistent schooling.

He'd been in the school since he was four.

He's almost eight, okay?

Now today's the ninth, so you're gonna put number nine.

Y'all failed my kid

and then you try to gaslight me as a mother

and said I didn't provide him with proper support.

All right, put, we started on page one,

so put the number one.

Hooked on Phonics.

So I bought the whole program, $400, for him

and you gonna tell me that I didn't try as a mother.

You see this crap hanging around my house?

It's everywhere.

They fall. They everywhere.

Who you talking about?

But you just made that assumption.

Why?

Okay, so I'm gonna make burritos.

Do you wanna eat burrito today?

- [Aden] Oh yeah. - [Fatima] Yeah. Okay.

I figured.

I'm so adamant about now, now, now

because I'm scared of if I don't,

if I don't do it, my son is gonna be fucked and it's real

and people don't see that.

They think that it's just like

as a Black woman, you're angry

and people will just wanna dismiss you.

All children have a right to get an education.

Regardless of what disability, you have the right

to get an education provided to you.

So, why do I have to fight?

(tense music)

(tense music continues)

(tense music continues)

(tense music continues)

- [Emily] We are meeting with the DOE today.

You know, it feels like really big.

(tense music)

I'm nervous.

(phone dings)

There's an email.

Good morning, Emily.

My sincere apologies.

I need to reschedule this meeting yet again.

I will be in touch with Linda's availability shortly.

Three hours before it's supposed to take place, they cancel.

It is just unbelievable. (sighs)

(sentimental music)

A bureaucratic nightmare.

I mean that is what this is.

(sighs)

And we have to like make a plan to make some noise here.

We have to make our own noise.

We just have to. (sighs)

(sentimental music)

All right.

- [Freya] I'm reaching a point where I need to know

that this is going to be a reality.

I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this.

(Naomi sighs deeply)

I think we're all reaching a point

where we're frustrated.

- [Akeela] It felt really low to like talk

to so many people in education.

Be able to clearly identify a problem

and to clearly outline the beginning of a solution

and then to go nowhere.

- [Emily] Feels like the window is closing.

- [Jeanine] And the reality is if we don't get a green light,

there's gonna be a new administration,

there's gonna be a new chancellor.

We're gonna, all the advocacy

and briefings that we've done,

we almost would have to start over.

- [Emily] Yeah. - [Jeanine] And that would be,

I think, really tough. (chuckles)

- [Emily] Yes.

(crowd chattering)

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

- [Ruth] How did it go?

- [Akeela] So the first day I was really nervous.

I just can't believe that my kids are actually in a place

that's going to really help them.

(sighs deeply) It's been so much pressure.

Okay, Soleil, can you put your seatbelt on honey, please.

Zaiden, can you put your seatbelt on honey?

To be in a place where you're like,

I won't have to fight here.

It's like a relief really.

(lighthearted music)

- [Naomi] 10 days before school started,

my attorney filed a notice

to legal of Department of Education saying,

"Lucas in 10 days will start school."

You know, they're very honest and open

that they're a school for learning disability.

I know why I did this but I wanna see it in him

to feel validated that this was a good move.

Last week people came in through the door

and he was pumped.

- [Naomi] Hey buddy.

He was like, I have such a cool school,

I love school.

Mind you, this kid in his 12 years of living

has never said this before.

Then he also brought in his Chromebook from school

'cause he wanted to show me

his essay that he wrote on his own.

I have a completely different kid.

- [Lucas] In my opinion, ducks are the best pet and here is why.

Ducks can clean themselves if they...

I feel like it's more fun to read than last year.

What's good about ducks cleaning themselves.

You barely have to shower them.

And there's a period.

- [Naomi] That's very good.

- [Lucas] Dyslexia doesn't even faze me anymore.

They'll have to clean themselves.

They groom themselves.

(lighthearted music)

- [Child] Dyslexia is technically a setback

but what is the positive of it is overcoming it.

- [Child] The world just opened around me.

- [Child] You have to put more work in,

therefore showing you're a harder worker

and that you're more resilient

than other people who get it easier.

- [Lucas] I felt happy

and like I felt like I just learned something new.

- [Child] You get to learn how to learn

like what the world is with like books and math.

- [Lucas] How to buy stuff

or how to invite a friend to my game or something.

Like reading is like talking.

(lighthearted music fades)

(leaves rustling)

(tense upbeat music)

- [News Anchor] New Yorkers are now focusing

on the 2021 race for mayor.

- [News Anchor] Some would say it's the third most important job

after presidency of the United States

- [News Anchor] And most difficult.

- [News Anchor] And one of the most difficult.

(siren blaring)

- [News Anchor] A large and diverse group running for the open seat.

Mayor de Blasio of course is term-limited.

- [News Anchor] Whoever wins

will face the daunting challenge

of governing a place long ago called the Ungovernable City.

- [Kareem] You got a unique moment now to deal with it

and New York has a moment now.

This is the second go around.

You only get so many chances.

- [Naomi] The team was really uncomfortable with pushing

because they wanted to play nice and we should,

but nothing happened.

I was like, guys, we're being stood up

at the altar here. (laughs)

I knew the focus had to be in the next administration.

- [Ruth] You need to show how this fits

into the mayor's priorities on dyslexia.

- [Jeanine] We see this as an opportunity to educate the candidates,

elevate this issue,

and make it a key part of the mayoral campaign.

- [Emily] Hey, mayoral candidates, talk about this.

This is what parents want to hear.

- [Kareem] And it just so happens that what's being taught

isn't what they need.

- [Emily] We're here today to speak about specifically our school,

but we also wanna talk about dyslexia

and language-based learning disabilities.

- [Jeanine] We are meeting with every mayoral candidate

'cause we wanna make sure

that this issue is a campaign issue

and people are focused on it.

(tense orchestral music)

- [Ruth] Do you know that my school team's involved in putting

a press conference today in the steps of Tweed

to get the mayoral candidates to take a pledge

for if they become mayor.

And there's a bunch of people speaking today

so, we're really psyched.

- [Akeela] Emily made me the closer.

I'm the last person to speak.

- [Emily] Yeah, I've got Naomi coming and then the city is coming

and then we've got the other cameras.

- [Akeela] That's what I was thinking.

When we teach the science of reading

all of our children will become skilled readers

and our children are the future leaders of the study.

Okay. - [Jeanine] Yeah.

- [Emily] What do you think?

- [Ruth] Great. Yay.

- [Emily] Let's go.

- [Emily]] Are you ready?

- [Protester] Yeah.

- [Protesters] Sign that pledge!

Sign that pledge! Sign that pledge!

- [Naomi] I am demanding that all mayoral candidates

sign on to the literacy pledge

because you cannot continue to berate student outcomes

while you're the one kicking the can down the road.

- [Emily] That's right, Naomi.

(protesters cheering and clapping)

- [Johanna] Can we all say the word dyslexia?

- [Protesters] Dyslexia.

- [Akeela] Reading and writing is a civil right.

In the words of Frederick Douglas,

"Education means emancipation."

- [Emily] That's right. - [Protesters] Right.

- [Akeela] That's what he said.

It is time to emancipate our children

from the school to prison pipeline.

- [Protesters] Yeah! - In this city.

(protesters cheering)

- [Protesters] Take the pledge!

Take the pledge!

Take the pledge!

(water lapping)

- [Fatima] Aden's been having a troublesome year,

he's had behavioral problems.

(sentimental music)

And I knew this would happen

and everything that I said would happen

has come to fruition.

- [Aden] No, I just didn't care.

- [Fatima] Aden's being bullied now.

At recess, some kid was like, "Aden, you ain't smart.

You can't spell it, spell it."

And Aden couldn't spell it.

And so all these kids call him dumb and stupid

and he was crying, he was upset.

I'm pretty sure Aden knows and is aware now

I'm different than other kids.

So, I am mentally preparing myself

to have him removed from public school.

- [Aden] I'm the last one.

(sentimental music)

- [Fatima] I want him to keep his confidence.

I don't want him to feel inadequate.

- [Aden] No!

(sentimental music)

I got a second place.

- [Fatima] He lives in a world where he doesn't understand words.

It's a foreign language

and he has to go sit in a foreign country, if you will,

for eight hours a day and find joy.

(sentimental music)

(sentimental music continues)

- [Eric Adams] Listen, if we don't educate, we're going to incarcerate

and that is what we're doing.

65% of Black and Brown children

never reach proficiency in this city.

- [Jeanine] We had a meeting with Eric Adams.

We were more focused on dyslexia as a civil rights issue.

Rikers thing was key that caught his attention.

- [Naomi] If it's anything that we know about Adams,

it's that he loves a good spotlight

and he will take that across. - [Jeanine] Yes.

- [Eric Adams] The real crime is not what happens on our streets only,

it is what we do every day in the Department of Education.

- [Naomi] Candidate Mayor Adams was using this

as a talking point in his speeches,

in his town halls with people,

in his debates.

- [Adams] I went through my entire public school experience

going to bed at night crying myself to sleep

because I didn't feel I could learn.

- [Naomi] His ability to personalize and articulate

the deep pain that one carries as a child, as a learner.

- [Eric Adams] You won't have another Eric Adams

believing he can't learn

when I'm the mayor of this city.

- [Naomi] And I'm deeply grateful that he was willing

to have that conversation with us.

And on everything else I disagree with him on. (laughs)

- [News Anchor] The Associated Press projects Eric Adams

as the winner of the race for New York City mayor.

- [Mayor Adams] I didn't allow my dyslexia to hold me back

and now I am mayor of New York City.

- [Johanna] And then you had the mayor saying, "I have dyslexia."

It was a public relations strategy gift to these parents.

You're saying that this is part of your story.

What is your commitment in addressing dyslexia?

(uplifting music)

(uplifting music continues)

- [News Anchor] Now I am joined by education activist,

Naomi Pena.

So I'm wondering what kind of hurdles have you run into?

- [Naomi] The first hurdle is the will.

The prior administration had no vision

to really tackle this.

We do see that there is a prime opportunity

with the current administration

that we have in New York City with Mayor Eric Adams,

who has made this part of his campaign promise.

It's important to even out the playing field here

and to really give equal access.

And that's the vision that we have for our school.

So, there is a place that this can exist

and this can be revolutionary

for the entire country if we do this right.

- [News Anchor] Excellent.

Thank you so much Naomi, for all of your work

and also for joining us.

- [Naomi] Thank you.

I mean, if that's not a call out to the mayor,

I don't know what is.

- [News Achor] Mayor Elect Eric Adams has made

his first big administration announcement.

David C. Banks will become chancellor

of New York City's public school system.

Adams and Banks have put a stake in the ground

for teaching reading to young kids.

- [Emily] I'm just gonna leave that.

- [Jeanine] Good morning. - [Naomi] Good morning.

- [Jeanine] Excited.

Naomi put her lipstick on. - [Naomi] Yeah.

- [Naomi] Everybody's

ready for the call.

- [Naomi] Fire red.

- [David Banks ] Morning, everybody.

- [Participants] Good morning. - [Emily] Hello.

- [Freya] For the 10 to 15% of students in the red,

the dyslexic students who we

ultimately hope to serve in our school,

structured literacy is an imperative.

- [Naomi] We see a problem, we have a solution,

and we were able to get outcomes in five weeks.

Imagine if we were able to incubate that

in a school setting.

Mind blowing.

- [David] This is a masterful presentation, first of all.

Doing something about dyslexia

has completely resonated with Eric.

And so, the new administration is gonna have responsibility

of figuring out how to properly respond.

In terms of the school itself, where are you in the process?

- [Ruth] We have not gotten an official green light.

- [David] You've already checked almost all of the boxes.

You just need the DOE to get out of the way.

- [Emily] Yes.

- [David] This is right at the top of the list.

- [Naomi] You totally made my Wednesday morning

and I appreciate it

and we will definitely be in contact.

- [Akeela] Great meeting you. - [Emily] So nice to meet you.

Bye now. - [Banks] Bye.

- [Participant] Bye-bye.

- [Participant] Bye.

(participants screams)

- (chuckles excitedly) Oh!

- [Naomi] That was awesome.

- [Akeela] Guys, we knocked it out the park.

- [Emily] Bye guys.

Oh my god.

(crowd chattering)

(crowd chattering continues)

- [Fatima] Every little concern

and every sense of urgency I had

was confirmed by the neuropsychologist.

My son got diagnosed with double deficit dyslexia,

the most severe type.

The psychologist told me

he's definitely gonna have to be in a smaller setting

and he needs to be taught in dyslexic form at all times,

and he's gonna have to go to private school.

Public school is out the window.

My child is a neurodivergent that needs help

and the only reason why he got help

is because his mother is a neurodivergent

that can't let something go when she thinks she's right.

(crowd cheering)

- [Announcer] On your marks.

Set.

(starting pistol pops)

(crowd cheering)

- [Fatima] I want him to always believe in himself.

You're not stupid.

You're not dumb because your brain is different.

I know this is gonna be the fight for the rest of my life.

(gentle instrumental music)

I don't know what his future looks like

but I do know neurodivergence matter.

You can't dismiss them and throw them to the wayside.

The answer to cancer might be in a dyslexic brain.

(camera shutter clicks)

(melancholic music)

- [Johanna] Our students with dyslexia are not standardized.

Children in general are not standardized.

(melancholic music)

When you have students that are left behind

and all that everyone is focused on

is what they cannot do,

that is a massive loss of potential.

(melancholic music)

Kids excel where they find joy.

(melancholic music)

If you give joy to a student in the classroom,

if you find a student experiencing, expressing,

engaging with joy,

(melancholic music)

then you've tapped into something in that child

that you can build on.

Our future collectively will be so much better

if we honored and gave these kids

the chance that they deserve.

(melancholic music)

- [Akeela] Imagine if every kid in public school

reading and writing on grade level,

every kid, all million kids.

(melancholic music)

And what kind of talent we would have

emerging into leadership roles.

(melancholic music)

It would change the landscape of our city.

(melancholic music)

It would be transformative.

(melancholic music)

(group chattering)

- [Mayor Adams] The Department of Education were well-aware

that we were ignoring these families

and they made a calculation.

If we don't diagnose,

we don't have to pay for the treatment.

- [Mayor Adams] For the first time, we're going to screen

all New York City School students for dyslexia

and give them the support they need to succeed.

Being undiagnosed is a weight

that I don't think anyone could ever imagine.

And when you take that weight off someone,

you're allowing them to reach their full potential.

(audience cheering applauding)

- [Chancellor Banks] We are going to make a huge difference

in the lives of thousands of students.

The Literacy Academy Collective, they're here today.

(audience applauding)

Come on, we should have this group here.

They have been on the front line on this issue a long time

and I know it has to feel good

to be at this moment, doesn't it?

(audience cheering applauding)

- [Naomi] I came together with a group of six moms

from diverse personal and professional backgrounds

to launch Literacy Academy Collective.

(audience applauding)

Through LAC, we will launch on DOE

public school for students

with language-based learning disabilities

to remove the barriers of so many children's need to read.

Thank you.

(audience cheering applauding)

- [Naomi] Standing there with the mayor,

it was validating and it was a sense of relief.

This would not make up for the experiences of my children.

I would not benefit from any of this,

but I know hundreds of thousands of other students will.

(uplifting music)

- [Freya] I had gone from feeling so powerless to

whoa, I'm here up on stage with, you know,

like chancellor and the mayor

and they're talking about dyslexia.

Okay, so maybe I'm not crazy after all.

Huh. (laughs)

(uplifting music)

- [Emily] Yay!

- [Ruth] We just proved a major point,

getting it into the public school system.

Like that's it.

It has not been done.

It has not been done.

(uplifting music)

- [Akeela] This is really happening

and I've been waiting for that.

I've been blessed to really be able to find

a group of women who are dedicated to doing this work.

All of us are fueled from this personal place

as well as our own individual professional work lives.

We know this is going to make an impact

throughout the system in the literacy community

and education space in the city.

- [Emily] Cheers to that.

(group laughing)

- [Akeela] I mean it's what has kept us going for 2 1/2 years.

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(group clapping)

- [Ruth] Happy first day in school.

Welcome.

- [Emily] Welcome.

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

- [Children] Happy birthday, dear Aden!

- [Fatima] Yeah?

(lighthearted music)

- [Principal] Second or third grade?

- [Mom] Second.

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

- [Emily] Have a great day.

(lighthearted music)

- [Ruth] Justine coming back?

Pizza. you want pizza?

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

- [Parent] Oh, I'm so excited.

- [Parent] Yes.

(lighthearted music)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music continues)

(lighthearted music fades)

(no audio)

(upbeat music)

♪ Thinking that I'm mad ♪

♪ Did you ever think why ♪

♪ Did you ever try and sit in the corners of my mind ♪

♪ And I got a sharp edge ♪

♪ And you've gotta loose grip ♪

♪ 'Cause you're moving too slow and I'm moving too quick ♪

♪ Want it in my clothes as I'm staring in the wall ♪

♪ I don't fit in your box ♪

♪ 'Cause you made it too small ♪

♪ Yeah, special and weird, it's thinning line ♪

♪ But special and weird is hard to come by ♪

♪ Crossings my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ Well, all we seem to do is read between the lines ♪

♪ So I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ Well, all we seem to do is read between the lines ♪

♪ crossing my t's and I'm dott♪

♪ Well, all we seem to do is read between the lines ♪

(vocalizing continues)

♪ You never sat in my shoes ♪

♪ You just tied the bow ♪

♪ When I tripped on my lace left me all alone ♪

♪ To my own devices, why am I like this ♪

♪ If it's so easy then you should try it ♪

♪ Want it in my clothes as I'm staring in the wall ♪

♪ I don't fit in your box ♪

♪ 'Cause you made it too small ♪

♪ Yeah, special and weird, it's a thinning line ♪

♪ But special and weird is hard to come by ♪

♪ I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ Well, all I seem to do is read between the lines ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ Well, all I seem to do is read between the lines ♪

(upbeat dramatic piano music)

♪ Well, I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ But all I seem to do is read between the lines ♪

♪ Well, I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ But all I seem to do is read between the lines ♪

♪ So I'm crossing my t's and I'm dotting my i's ♪

♪ But all I seem to do is read between the lines ♪

(vocalizing)

(vocalizing continues)

(vocalizing continues)

(vocalizing continues)

(singer chuckles)

♪ Angry ♪

♪ You made me angry ♪

♪ No place for people like me ♪

♪ Trouble ♪

♪ You think it's funny ♪

♪ Broken, disappointed, and wrong ♪

♪ I'm different ♪

♪ The weakest ♪

♪ Last chance ♪

♪ They just can't do it ♪

♪ I try ♪

♪ I cry ♪

♪ I can't ♪

♪ Just can't do it ♪

♪ Trouble ♪

♪ You think it's funny ♪

♪ Broken, disappointed, and wrong ♪

♪ Angry ♪

♪ Where are all the people like me ♪

(no audio)