A 19-year-old woman from Connecticut has taken legal action against her former public high school, claiming the institution failed her by allowing her to graduate with honours despite her severe literacy struggles.
Aleysha Ortiz completed her studies at Hartford Public High School in June last year, earning an honours diploma and even securing a college scholarship. However, she is now suing the school for negligent infliction of emotional distress, alleging that she was denied a proper education. Ortiz asserts that her reading ability is equivalent to that of a first-grader and that she can barely hold a pencil properly.
Born in Puerto Rico, Ortiz showed early signs of learning difficulties, which persisted after she moved to the United States at the age of five. She claims that the school and the special education teacher assigned to her case failed to provide the necessary support until a month before graduation—when, after years of neglect, additional testing finally revealed that she was functionally illiterate.
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According to Ortiz, school officials offered her the option to defer her diploma in exchange for intensive support services, but she refused.
"They had 12 years. Now it's my time," she told CNN, insisting that she deserved better long before reaching the point of graduation.
Her case raises serious questions about the education system. How did she manage to graduate with honours when she could barely read or write? Even more puzzling, how was she accepted into the University of Connecticut? Ortiz credits modern technology, explaining that she relied on smartphone apps to convert text to speech and vice versa, even using them to complete her college application and required essay.
However, the reality of university life has been far more challenging. Ortiz admitted that she has been struggling and ultimately stopped attending classes in early February. She hopes to return soon but needed time off to focus on her mental health.
"I’m a passionate person, and I love to learn," she said. "People took that opportunity away from me. Now that I’m in college, I want to take full advantage of my education."
Through her lawsuit, Ortiz hopes to hold school authorities accountable for what she describes as the theft of her education. She believes that many school officials “don’t know what they’re doing and don’t care” and wants to ensure that no other students experience what she did.