Wisconsin mother lambasts school’s ‘barbaric’ racism against special needs son

A Wisconsin mother is taking legal action against her school district for racially discriminating against her dyslexic son by putting minority students first.

Colbey Decker recalled how her child struggled with reading from early on in his education.

“He was exhibiting all the classic signs of dyslexia, where learning basic letters was really challenging,” she explained. “My son is in the 17th percentile, [but] he’s being pushed out of services for children who are higher performing.”  

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), which is representing the Deckers, found the Green Bay Area Public School District’s policy explicitly prioritized reading intervention for minority students.  

The district’s policy on literacy speaks of “prioritizing additional resources to First Nations, Black, and Hispanic students.”

“I couldn’t believe that someone would actually withhold services because of the color of someone’s skin. It was so barbaric,” Decker continued. “I never imagined that in this day we could possibly look at a child and just say, ‘Sorry, you don’t get reading support because we’re going to give it to someone else.’” 

WILL sent a letter to the Green Bay district on Dec. 9 detailing how Decker’s child is suffering without adequate intervention.  

“He struggles with reading across all subjects,” the letter explained. “For example, he is skilled in math, but it takes him longer to decode text in math story problems. Even in settings like music class, his inability to read words quickly has forced him to rely on memorization rather than comprehension.”  

Early elementary intervention in reading is vitally important because after 4th grade, students stop learning to read and start reading to learn. 

“By fourth grade, children are expected to use reading to learn other subjects,” explains The Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Kids who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out of school.  

“Low reading proficiency also can reduce earning potential and chances for career success as adults.” 

But Decker’s son was ignored by his district. When it finally offered him reading intervention services, they weren’t as rigorous as his dyslexia needed.  

Now WILL is threatening legal action if the district doesn’t reverse its race-based policy and give Decker’s son the help he desperately needs.  

“Policies that classify students by race undermine the fundamental principle that all children are entitled to be treated as individuals with dignity and worth,” reads WILL’s letter, which also argues Green Bay is violating the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. 

“I think we need to help every student in need, and using the guise of ‘diversity’ simply creates more division and hurts all students,” Decker concluded. “It is my job as a mom to stand in the gap for my children. Any mom, dad, grandparent who’s advocating, they want nothing more than their child to be treated equally.” 

WILL has asked Green Bay to respond to its requests by Dec. 16.  

“Prioritizing students of certain races inherently excludes other students who are in need,” said Corey Brewer, education counsel at WILL. “We plan to exhaust every legal option against this school district to end this discriminatory practice.”