Overheard at Subway

I love Subway sandwiches–especially the tuna with everything on it except onions and green pepper.

So, I walked into the Subway at the student union at Stanford.

I say to young man at cash register. “Wow you are always busy.”

“You should have seen it 30 minutes ago, ” he replied, pointing to the door. “The line was out to there.”

“Well, you have a good product.”

He, with a big smile. “You gotta eat fresh!”

I was so impressed! He got the company message. “You gotta eat fresh.”

Subway must be doing something very well.

And, of course, I thought of our schools providing special education. How about training staff to say–with a big smile, “We proudly work with you to provide your child with a free appropriate public education (FAPE)?”

–with a hat off to Starbucks. Have you noticed those coffee kiosks at hotels? “We proudly serve Starbucks coffee.”

HMMM. We proudly (or gladly or joyfully or consistently or competently or –pick your adjective… provide your child with a FAPE.”

About Miriam

Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer. For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children. Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.

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