HARTFORD, Conn. (CNN) - A Connecticut college student is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city of Hartford for negligence.
Nineteen-year-old Aleysha Ortiz says she graduated from high school with honors and earned a college scholarship, but she can’t read or write.
In some ways, Ortiz is living an American dream.
The 19-year-old began her freshman year at the University of Connecticut in Hartford this past fall.
She’s excited to study public policy; it’s the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child.
“I remember I was very nervous, but I know it was going to be better opportunities for me to learn,” Ortiz remarked.
But Ortiz says those opportunities never came to fruition.
“All I see is words everywhere,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz graduated from the Hartford Public Schools system last year, but she says she is now illiterate and still doesn’t know how to read or write.
“They would just either tell me to stay in a corner and sleep or just draw pictures, flowers for them,” Ortiz said about her earlier education.
When she was in high school, Ortiz relied on speech-to-text programs and other apps to read or write essays.
Ortiz said her mother, who does not speak English well, tried to get answers.
“She advocated so much,” Ortiz said. “She went to the school. The principal promised her that it would be better. Sometimes it would be people from the district or the directors promising her they would do better.”
Now, Ortiz is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city for negligence.
The suit alleges the school district documented and acknowledged Ortiz’s learning challenges through multiple grades, but because they were not adequately addressed, “she continued to struggle academically and began exhibiting maladaptive behaviors in the classroom.”
“Sometimes I would feel proud to be the bad child because at least I was something to them and I wasn’t invisible,” Ortiz said.
While the city of Hartford and an educator named in the suit declined to comment, the district wrote in a statement, “While Hartford Public Schools cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain deeply committed to meeting the full range of needs our students bring with them when they enter our schools — and helping them reach their full potential.”
Dr. Jesse Turner is the leader of the literacy center at Central Connecticut State University. He feels the main issue here is inequality in public education.
“America should be asking a question, ‘Do we really care about our children? All of our children?’ And I would argue that maybe we don’t,’” Turner said.
A 2019 report from EdBuild, which promotes equity in public schools, found that majority non-white school districts get $23 billion less than districts that serve mostly white students.
Minority enrollment in Hartford’s public schools is at about 90%.
Turner fears a crucial guardrail will be lost if President Donald Trump’s administration follows through with abolishing the Department of Education.
“How do I protect the special education children?” Turner asked. “Who do I go to if I close it down?”
College has presented its own obstacles, but Ortiz says UConn has been accommodating.
Still, she doesn’t want any other student to go through what she experienced.
“I know we can do better and I know we have a powerful community that wants to do better. I want to be the voice with them,” Ortiz said.
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