Rewarding Illiteracy

Hartford teen brings to light a big problem

Good day everybody. I have known about this story for a while, but it has just been so baffling to me as a young person that I have to rant about it here or else I will lose my mind. I’ll link the full story at the end of the piece.

There is this girl, her name is Aleysha Ortiz, and she graduated with honors from Hartford Public High School in 2024. She then enrolled at the University of Connecticut, a pretty high-profile college.

Now, you might be thinking, good for her. There is just one problem though: she apparently cannot read or write. Yes, you read that correctly. Throughout her school career of 12 years, she never acquired basic literacy skills.

This is why I am actually going to link the article at the end, because this probably sounds so ridiculous I must prove that I am not just making this up.

Aleysha started attending college this year, which apparently doesn’t use SAT scores for acceptance and accepts based on GPA. However, she began to realize that she wasn’t adjusting well to the university environment due to her illiteracy.

Now, Aleysha is suing the Hartford Board of Education for negligence.

What?

To be clear, this article is not meant to poke fun at Ortiz. My bewilderment to this situation is more so an issue with the school administration, because there are a few pieces of this puzzle that just aren’t fitting for me.

First, UConn doesn’t accept applicants based upon SAT scores, they accept based on GPA. Okay, fine. How does a girl who does not know how to read or write get a GPA higher than a 1.0? It should be impossible.

The story states that Ortiz used text-to-speech and other technological assistance to help her. I can see that working with homework. I cannot see that working with in-class tests. I graduated from high school in 2018. If we used technology on in-class tests we would receive an instant failure.

So, how was Ortiz able to pass tests? She must have received passing grades, given that her GPA is apparently good enough to get into a university. Were these teachers just looking at her intelligible scribbles and giving instant A’s?

Given the amount of reading and writing that is required throughout grades 1-12, I fail to see how she could even sit in a classroom and understand what was being taught to her after grade 1. It should be impossible. Yes, teachers will talk a lot, but they have you read too.

Also, if she cannot read or write, how can she speak? I don’t know about anyone else, but when I speak, I visualize the words I am saying and am about to say. If she can’t read or write, how can she visualize the words in her head in order to articulate them?

I’ve been looking at people commenting on this story, and the only way I can wrap my head around any of this is that she was given accommodations, but accommodations only do so much, and they don’t graduate you with honors.

Apparently, her mother is Puerto Rican, doesn’t speak English and isn’t highly educated so she wasn’t much help. This begs the question though, does Aleysha speak Spanish? That isn’t brought up in the story. Most Puerto Ricans are bilingual.

She can obviously speak English fine; she does so in the interview. How she can speak either language beyond the basics if she cannot read is beyond me.

Now, she should have been personally responsible and brought this up before she graduated with honors, but at the same time, I believe that the school board and administration are at fault as well.

Mind you, this is Connecticut. This is a blue state. Blue states always pride themselves on how great their education system is compared to the dumb hick red states. Apparently, their education system is so great that even a caveman can graduate.

You can’t tell me that this girl was in school for 12 years and nobody noticed her inability to read or write. You can’t tell me that she was able to pass every exam. You can’t tell me that she got a high GPA. Something isn’t adding up.

The story says that she has dyslexia, but many people have dyslexia that were able to adapt and get through school. Yeah, it was a struggle for sure, but one that was overcome by having to work harder than average.

I think that Aleysha’s situation highlights a bigger problem that needs to be addressed: the bar being continuously lowered for passing education. I was always under the impression that if I didn’t do well in a grade, I would be held back. Do they not do that anymore?

If the bar has gotten so low that someone who can’t read or write can graduate with honors and get accepted into university, what’s even the point of trying anymore? What was the point of me working my tail off for 12 years if I could have just passed by doing nothing?

There needs to be a giant reevaluation of education policy in this country. Someone who can’t read or write should not be passing school. It isn’t fair to those of us who could and only gives us more illiterate people.

The problem is that school districts push kids through the education system to keep their metrics looking great. When a school touts an over 90% graduation rate, it isn’t always because the children are passing on their own merits.

The worst part about this is that I am sure it isn’t limited to one person, she is just the one who has blown the whistle on it. She can file a lawsuit all she wants; the problem is it isn’t going to change anything in the long run.

We need to go back to the idea that schools can fail you if you don’t improve. There should be no reason why children who cannot read or write should pass 1^st grade. It only gets harder every grade you go. If illiteracy isn’t nipped in the bud at the start, it won’t get better.

Had Ortiz been held back until she understood how to read and write, she would have been better off. Now she looks like a fool. The education system also looks foolish, because logically they should not have allowed her to pass while being illiterate.

As silly as I find this lawsuit, since she ought to be learning to read and write right now instead of filing lawsuits, I am interested in hearing administration and school board officials testify, if they don’t settle first. I need to hear the excuses for this.

Perhaps this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on education. No more frees ride to honors graduation, hopefully.

At the end of the CNN video, they interview Dr. Turner, who says that the problem is inequality and lack of equity, but I disagree. I would argue that it is equity that has led us to this point. You can’t make equity without taking something else.

Equity is when you pass failing students in order to have them keep up with passing students, so they don’t get left behind. I have seen no version of equity in which standards got better instead of worse.

This entire country was impoverished during the Great Depression, yet so many children came out of that generation to be literate and contributing members of society. This isn’t a money issue, it is an education policy issue.

You want my solution? Allow teachers to fail students. Hold failing students back. Don’t just sit them in a corner and tell them to draw flowers. Let teachers do their jobs. If a child needs extra help, let them be sent to a special school. Let us bring back what worked while discarding what doesn’t.

I refuse to believe that this is all just one big money issue.

I’m interested to hear what you all think of this.

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