“I have two children with learning differences. After Covid hit, we pulled my son with autism out of school and discovered homeschooling was best for him. We live in the middle of a very rural area in Searcy country. The nearest school is 40 minutes away from us. As we were transitioning over the summer, I looked around and noticed a lot of kids in our community being homeschooled for various reasons. The community is very rural, very impoverished, and with very low education levels. There aren’t many resources for these kids.
Some of them live off the grid in the woods, so it’s difficult for them to consistently get to school. Our districts aren’t the best around here, especially for kids with special learning needs. They were being homeschooled, but they didn’t have any resources. And some of their parents didn’t have the needed education level to teach them. I saw all of these bright children sliding through the cracks with no one watching out for them.
With the passing of LEARNS, I founded The Learning Hub, a small micro school currently with seven students. I did it to bring a resource to people who would never have that option otherwise, financially or physically. All of my students are on EFA accounts. Most of them have learning difficulties. They all have unstable housing—meaning they use solar power and don’t have regular running water. Some kids don’t even have internet at home, so they don’t have access to online services.
I started The Learning Hub in September. I chased down families, drove parents to the Health Department to get birth certificates, and helped fill out applications. We even provide transportation for the kids. Our families are worried about their kids being clothed and fed and bills being paid; I made sure the kids have access to transportation so they can attend. Some of the families don’t even have money to drive their kids to school every day because of gas costs.
This is 100 percent life-changing for these kids. Most of them are two to three grades behind and still learning to read. Their parents are worried about work every day, so I’m not pointing fingers at them. They’re just not able to provide education.
This is truly a population of kids with no other options. There are no online resources, because they don’t have internet. There are no physical options, because they don’t exist. I serve families that would not have the money at all to provide educational opportunities for their children. The EFA program has changed their lives for the better. It’s given them a chance to explore their interests and increase their creativity and confidence. I see them light up in ways they haven’t in a long time.
Everyone is talking about the rich private school kids, but we are the bottom of the bottom. These kids are finally getting a chance. If this wasn’t here, they would be sitting at home with the absolute bare minimum, through nobody’s fault—there just aren’t any resources. I’m grateful I’ve been given the chance to provide this for these kids. Without the EFAs, it wouldn’t be possible. We depend on it, and the money is stretching a long way for these kids.
One story that I still think about is of an older girl who had no confidence in reading at all. In fact, her parents weren’t sure if she even knew how to read, because she avoided books at all costs. At the beginning of the year, I brought all the kids together and focused on finding books they would like. We started out very slowly, but now that girl is finding books she likes. Within two or three weeks, we were on our way to school, and she said, ‘Since I’m such a bookworm now, my mom said she can buy me books anytime I want.’
She went from someone who wasn’t considered able to read, to someone who has three books in her bag—and one in her hand right now. I’ve seen these kids go from zero confidence and skills, to really saying, ‘No, I can do this.’ This girl used not even to play board games because she was scared she wouldn’t be able to read them. Now, we play them all the time. I think it’s a source of anxiety for the kids, because they haven’t been in school for a while and are afraid about how behind they are. Now, they have the confidence that they can learn.
To all of the policymakers who helped put this into place, thank you. Thank you for believing in the good of policies that people look at so negatively. There are people like us that others completely forget about. Our policymakers do see us and remember us; they know there are students and families out here that need help and are willing to fight for us. It’s really changing lives. Not everyone fits into a public school box, and we can’t let those kids fall through the cracks.
I’m very hopeful for next year. There are a lot of students that still need this type of education setting. With the expansion of EFA vouchers next year, I think there will be a big push for individualized education. There are a lot of kids out there that we’re still not serving. And I think it’s only going to get better from here.”
Brandy Sandersfeld
Founder of The Learning Hub, Arkansas mom
