This is the part:
“Federal law requires school districts to foot the bill for independent evaluations if a family can prove one is warranted. “That’s a battle school districts do often win because the parent has to show that the evaluation was flawed,” wrote Ellen Saideman, an attorney based in Rhode Island who focuses on special education.”

This is a very common misconception. Once the school has completed their evaluation, the parent can not agree with the evaluation and request an IEE to be paid for by the school. The school can ask why the parent disagrees, but the parent doesn’t have to say why. The school can take the parent to court, and at that time the parent would have to give a reason, but schools rarely do that. Would it be possible to make the correction in the article or remove the incorrect information? Please see the details below.

Thank you for reporting on this very important topic! Would you ever be interested in reporting on how RTI is failing? We’d love to share with you what’s been happening in NC! I am CCing Amanda Harrison who is the co-founder of Literacy Moms NC.

All the best,
Virginia Sharpless
Literacy Moms NC

IDEA section 300.502 is the part of IDEA that gives parents the right to an IEE: https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.502
Sec. 300.502 Independent educational evaluation
(a) General.
(1) The parents of a child with a disability have the right under this part to obtain an independent educational evaluation of the child, subject to paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section.
(2) Each public agency must provide to parents, upon request for an independent educational evaluation, information about where an independent educational evaluation may be obtained, and the agency criteria applicable for independent educational evaluations as set forth in paragraph (e) of this section.
(3) For the purposes of this subpart—
(i) Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the child in question; and
(ii) Public expense means that the public agency either pays for the full cost of the evaluation or ensures that the evaluation is otherwise provided at no cost to the parent, consistent with §300.103.
(b) Parent right to evaluation at public expense.
(1) A parent has the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the public agency, subject to the conditions in paragraphs (b)(2) through (4) of this section.
(2) If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation at public expense, the public agency must, without unnecessary delay, either—
(i) File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation is appropriate; or
(ii) Ensure that an independent educational evaluation is provided at public expense, unless the agency demonstrates in a hearing pursuant to §§300.507 through 300.513 that the evaluation obtained by the parent did not meet agency criteria.
(3) If the public agency files a due process complaint notice to request a hearing and the final decision is that the agency’s evaluation is appropriate, the parent still has the right to an independent educational evaluation, but not at public expense.
(4) If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation, the public agency may ask for the parent’s reason why he or she objects to the public evaluation. However, the public agency may not require the parent to provide an explanation and may not unreasonably delay either providing the independent educational evaluation at public expense or filing a due process complaint to request a due process hearing to defend the public evaluation.
(5) A parent is entitled to only one independent educational evaluation at public expense each time the public agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees.
(c) Parent-initiated evaluations. If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at public expense or shares with the public agency an evaluation obtained at private expense, the results of the evaluation—
(1) Must be considered by the public agency, if it meets agency criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the child; and
(2) May be presented by any party as evidence at a hearing on a due process complaint under subpart E of this part regarding that child.
(d) Requests for evaluations by hearing officers. If a hearing officer requests an independent educational evaluation as part of a hearing on a due process complaint, the cost of the evaluation must be at public expense.
(e) Agency criteria.
(1) If an independent educational evaluation is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, must be the same as the criteria that the public agency uses when it initiates an evaluation, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the parent’s right to an independent educational evaluation.
(2) Except for the criteria described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, a public agency may not impose conditions or timelines related to obtaining an independent educational evaluation at public expense.

To keep the program low cost, we have not been able to assign a marketing and advertising budget to it and struggling to let the schools and parents know about this program. We also have scholarships available for students from low-income families.

Our belief:
GOOD READERS → GOOD WRITERS → GOOD STUDENTS → GOOD GRADES

A quick intro:
Our Elements of Reading program is an effective reading program for all students including diverse learners such as timid readers, readers without confidence, homeschool children, Students with Disabilities, and English Learners who participate in general education classroom instruction. We begin with very young readers, and our philosophy is that good reading skills lead to good writing skills. Our reading program is based on letter-sound recognition and word attack strategies with phonemic awareness and syllable breakdown.

My co-founder Eileen and I would love to connect and discuss this program with you.
Warmly,
Sumit Kumar