You’re Paying for Carpet

I once visited a school that had just spent $2 million renovating their lower school wing. New furniture. A maker space with a 3D printer no one had been trained to use. A library with a reading nook shaped like a treehouse.

Their reading specialist had a basic teaching certification, a course on structured literacy, and had been in the role for six months.

I don’t say this to be cruel. I say it because this is the truly the norm, not the exception, at least from my experience. Brick and mortar schools invest in what parents can see on a tour. And parents, understandably, walk through a beautiful building and think: this place is serious about education.

But carpet doesn’t differentiate instruction. A treehouse nook doesn’t know whether your child’s spelling errors stem from dyslexia or from the fact that they’re managing two writing systems at home. A maker space doesn’t notice that the “behavior problem” in third grade is actually a kid whose executive function is overwhelmed by processing three languages every time they pick up a pencil.

Expertise does that.

Those experts increasingly don’t need a building to reach your child. They need training, experience, and a WiFi connection.

It is early 2026, and the "crisis" in special education has shifted from a temporary post-pandemic dip to a deeply rooted systemic challenge. The shortage isn't just about empty desks; it's a "quality gap" where many classrooms are staffed by well-meaning but under-certified personnel.

In the current climate, assuming your child’s brick and mortar classroom will be led by a seasoned expert is more an act of hope than a guarantee. Online is transparent so you know exactly who is teaching your child every time.

The question isn’t whether a school looks impressive. It’s whether the person sitting across from your kid, or on the other side of the screen, actually understands what they’re looking at.

Next in the series: what COVID taught us about which schools were selling a building and which ones were selling expertise.