Aleysha Ortiz, an honors graduate of Hartford public schools, is taking several classes at the University of Connecticut while her lawyer sues the district for failing to teach her to read and write. Ortiz, now 19, was diagnosed with a speech impediment and ADHD when she came to Hartford from Puerto Rico at the age of six, writes Jessika Harkay in the Connecticut Mirror.
At a May 29 meeting, Noreen Trenchard, a special education administrator for the district, said "no direct reading instruction was provided," because it wasn't in the Individual Education Plan. Ortiz’s difficulties in encoding and decoding could be “symptomatic of dyslexia,” Trenchard said, but could also be “symptomatic of not having received instruction.”
Administrators refused requests to evaluate Ortiz for dyslexia. Instead of help for her "hand fatigue," which made it hard for her to hold a pencil for more than a few minutes, she was told to use a keyboard.
She can add, but has few other math skills.
By 11th grade, a team of staff members "pushed for more services, intervention and support," Harkay reports. But Ortiz says she was told it was "too late" and "there weren’t teachers to sit down and teach me.”
Using a phone with the speech-to-text function and a calculator, Ortiz made the honor roll and was accepted at several universities, writes Harkay. She hopes to become a teacher or lawyer.
The school district offered her 100 hours of intensive reading instruction over the summer, but couldn't identify who would provide it. Ortiz decided to take the diploma and sue for "educational neglect."
It's not just that nobody taught her reading, writing or math. It's not just that she wasn't evaluated from what I'm guessing is severe dyslexia. She was given honor-roll grades, a diploma, a seat at a state university and ambitions she can't possibly fulfill unless someone teaches her how to read.
If I were a taxpayer in Connecticut, I would not be happy with UConn's admissions office; regional universities ought to admit qualified students, and Ms Ortiz obviously lacks credible qualifications for tertiary education.
Something makes little to no sense here, how this individual manages to make the honor roll, without being able to read or write sounds like the biggest pile of manure in history...
While I would agree the district is screwed up for not assisting her, what about her own responsibility for getting an education (dyslexic/ADHD, etc)...I would seriously doubt her
ability to make it into law school and pass the state bar, which is quite difficult in many states
(could you imagine her trying to argue her first case)?
<shudder>
Read more of the story at https://instapundit.com/675804/ Ms Ortiz seems to be a victim of her own self-indulgence.
In discover during the lawsuit, it would be interesting to learn what her attendance was, what her parents did, and what she told UConn in her application.