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Math dyslexia imperils Orange County art teacher's job
Sheldon Horowitz, a director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said Machacyk may be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It says that employment tests can't screen out employees with disabilities unless the test is related to the person's job.
by Tanya Caldwell
Tom Machacyk is no math genius. He's an artist who teaches at Waterford Elementary School and, he says, he's pretty good at it.
But the art teacher's mathematical shortcomings may soon cost him his job. His temporary teaching certificate expires June 30. By then, he has to pass a state-required math test to get his permanent certification.
But for someone like Machacyk -- whose wife won't let him near the checkbook -- passing the test is practically impossible.
Machacyk, 49, has dyscalculia, a type of dyslexia that involves numbers. His learning disability puts him at a fifth-grade math level. The state certification test asks questions on a 10th-grade level.
"I do the easier ones at first, but the harder ones are a nuisance. Everything gets all wish-washed and I'm done," said Machacyk, whose name is pronounced ma-HAA-chik. "These are extremely difficult questions, especially for somebody in my position."
Machacyk, at one point, lost count of how many times he has taken the state's General Knowledge Math test. (The answer, he later recalled, is five.) He does know this: He has failed every one of them.
This month was no different. The art teacher rushed to take his test after school, trying to concentrate as the numbers swirled before his eyes and swished around his brain. Machacyk recalls his skin was wet with sweat and his stomach was growling.
About an hour later, he was out the door, having failed again.
"The issue is that they need to put something in place to deal with this," Machacyk said. "I have a learning disability. We bend over backward for every child in our classrooms with learning disabilities."
Few answers
Machacyk's principal at Waterford, Brenda Cunningham, didn't return calls for comment. Officials with the Orange County school district also wouldn't comment beyond saying the state is in charge of teacher certification.
The law requires all teachers to pass the math test, said Tom Butler, spokesman for the Florida Department of Education, and it does not allow the department to waive the test or alter certification requirements.
Test-takers with learning disabilities are offered Braille or large-print versions of the test, talking calculators and reading assistance.
But none of that helps people with math learning disabilities, Machacyk said.
He has been offered more time to answer questions, but it hasn't helped.
"The longer I take, the worse it gets," he said. "It becomes just a jumble of Bingo balls in a cage.
"It's just been one 'no' after the other. I've been kicked around from certification to the local level to upstate," he said. "No one seems to have an answer."
It takes a score of 200 to pass the math test. Machacyk came close once, with a 181. But it might've been a fluke, he said.
"I sweated through that and guessed on most of them," he said. He hasn't been able to match the score since. Tutoring and studying don't do any good when exam day arrives, he said.
A lifelong struggle
Machacyk was diagnosed with dyscalculia in 2001, after a psychologist found that his IQ tested normal in all areas except math. Machacyk's math IQ is only better than 2 percent of the people his age, according to the psychologist.
People who have dyscalculia have trouble keeping numbers lined up, solving math problems and handling money, according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America.
Machacyk has struggled with numbers for most of his life. It's hard for him to remember phone numbers or provide credit-card numbers when making a purchase online.
But he has learned to adapt. After struggling with math through high school, Machacyk earned a business degree from Nova Southeastern University in 2003.
"My statistics professor put it more verbally than in numbers. My accounting teacher did the same thing," Machacyk said. "And instead of getting crumbled, crunched with numbers, they worked with me."
ADA could come into play
Experts don't know why state education officials won't do the same.
Dale S. Brown, the senior manager of LD Online, a learning disability Web site, said Machacyk should be exempt from the math test, if his dyscalculia is severe.
"I don't see what it has to do with being an art teacher," said Brown, who has written a number of books about learning disabilities. "This is like testing a paraplegic on walking."
Brown and Sheldon Horowitz, a director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said Machacyk may be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It says that employment tests can't screen out employees with disabilities unless the test is related to the person's job. It also says the test has to measure the employee's true ability on the subject, rather than just show that the person is disabled in that area.
"You can give a bus driver a driving test, but you can't give a store clerk a calculus test," Brown said. "The state Department of Education has to show under the ADA that the test tests something you need to know to do the job."
'A good role model'
Machacyk's disability has never threatened his career, which is grounded with decades of experience in the arts. He said he worked for years as a Disney animator and taught art classes in St. Louis and local art museums.
His greatest reward, he said, has been in the classroom. He started teaching at the east Orange County school three years ago after his daughter's teachers told him he had a knack for working with students.
Machacyk's daughter is now 21 and says she gets semi-celebrity status from children who recognize her as "Mr. M's daughter."
She doesn't understand why more isn't done for her dad's dilemma. It's like flunking a disabled gym student who can't climb a rope, she said.
"I don't think it's a good example," Kaci Machacyk said. "It's almost like telling kids that they can't do what they want to do if they have a disability."
Students and teachers at Waterford Elementary love Machacyk, said Rebecca Davis, a music teacher at the school.
"To lose such a good role model would be unfortunate," Davis said. "I would understand it if he couldn't pass his art test. But he passed that the first time."
Parents don't think it's fair, either.
"I think life experience needs to count for something, especially as an art teacher," said Kellie Ehalt, 41, a parent whose two children attend Machacyk's classes. "I have no problem with him teaching my children art if he can't pass that math test. He just oozes creativity. All the kids adore him."
You can take the test once every 31 days, which gives Machacyk a few more chances to pass by June 30. He hasn't told his students that he may not be back next year.
"All I want is an extension. Give me an extension on my certification so we can figure this out," Machacyk said. "I work in colors. Let's work in colors other than black and white."
— Tanya Caldwell
Orlando Sentinel
2008-03-25
orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-artteacher2508mar25,0,575131.story
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