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submitted 3 days ago by marioms@lemm.ee to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

A former student, Aleysha Ortiz, is suing the city of Hartford and the local board of education. Ortiz alleges she graduated without learning how to read or write. She claims it was due to negligence and lack of proper support for her developmental disabilities.

The lawsuit claims Ortiz was denied necessary testing for dyslexia. It also claims she was removed from special education curriculum and only tested for developmental disabilities on her last day of school, revealing significant unmet educational needs.

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[-] cupcakezealot 55 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

People dismissing this really don't understand how terrible the attitudes by administrators are towards special education and disability education. It's entirety believable that the district would dismiss her needs in order to up their graduating numbers.

(Special education teachers are great, this is not aimed at them)

I'm also not familiar with "Straight Arrow News", though, that's the only thing that gives me pause

[-] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

This should only be surprising to people who don't know the stats. It's almost 20% of graduates are functionally illiterate. There's almost no schools where the bottom 5% of students are are close to competent in any subject.

[-] marioms@lemm.ee 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

You can read this one from CNN. I posted the SAN article only because of the headline.

[-] cupcakezealot 8 points 2 days ago

Thanks! I wasn't trying to be negative, I just hadn't heard of it before!

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago

im not surprised, they do this to NORMAL struggling students too,. witness my school passing people with ds or Fs, just to keep the funding going. what did you expect trying to force students to go to school at 7:30am(must wake an hr earlier to prepare) and this is a blue area too. if they do this to normal students, its not surprising SPED also suffers. also the fact they keep sped an extra 2+years in hs system, which probably costs them even more.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 107 points 3 days ago

Standard republican play book: Break shit and when called out wonder why it's broken.

The school to prison pipeline is malfunctioning because Ortiz was smart enough to sue.

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 47 points 3 days ago

"Republican play book" dude it's Connecticut. And none the less Hartford. That city hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1971.

The issue is that educational funding is predominantly on the municipal level, rather than the state level.

The only mention in the article about Republicans is the CT Republicans being outraged about how the schools have failed this child. Which is entirely justifiable.

But rather than look at the underlying system issues lets resort to flinging mud at people who had zero impact in the current situation.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

so you're saying it's not republicans that are predominately concerned with defunding education?

or that republicans are not routinely "surprised" when their policies cause problems- exactly like this?

interesting. You're right. I'm just flinging mud. I couldn't possibly have a valid point (like maybe don't get rid of the fucking department of education.)

By the way. Your stats on funding sources is wrong. (PDF warning, but here's the budget break down as of April '24

a screen grab of the overall breakdown:

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I was stating the CT Republicans had little to no impact on the outcome of this student's education because they have little impact on local politics in such a blue area. And resulting should have no reason to presume that any policy stances of their have an impact on the people of Hartford.

If Trump stripped the Dept of Education on day one that still would be irrelevant here as this student is the victim of over a decade of the school system failing them.

On your BTW, my point wasn't about Hartford's education costs but more on broader educational costs. In suburban CT well funded schools get nearly 70% of their expenses paid for by local property taxes. The failure of the city of Hartford to raise funds on the municipal level vs other municipalities is relevant here. Which of course stems from the difference in economics status between their citizens. Hence my critique of local funding playing such a big role.

CT has some of the finest public schools in the nation. But they sure as hell are not the ones in Hartford.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

On your BTW, my point wasn’t about Hartford’s education costs but more on broader educational costs. In suburban CT well funded schools get nearly 70% of their expenses paid for by local property taxes. The failure of the city of Hartford to raise funds on the municipal level vs other municipalities is relevant here. Which of course stems from the difference in economics status between their citizens. Hence my critique of local funding playing such a big role.

CT has some of the finest public schools in the nation. But they sure as hell are not the ones in Hartford.

"well funded schools" in what I'm guessing are... rich, white, suburbs.

hartford is lowest in terms of per-capita income. So blaming the city for their residents not being wealthy is... rather a dick move.

I was stating the CT Republicans had little to no impact on the outcome of this student’s education because they have little impact on local politics in such a blue area. And resulting should have no reason to presume that any policy stances of their have an impact on the people of Hartford.

If CT republicans are more eager to dump money on education int heir state than CT dems are, then they're an entirely different breed of republicans than anywhere else in this country. Which is why education funding in red states is vastly exceeded by education funding in blue states.

which brings me back to my original point: It's patently disingenuous, hypocritical and totally on brand, for a republican to call out failures as being related to funding when they're predominately the ones who predominately called for the funding to be cut. Reduced education spending is a core part of the republican agenda. And it has been for as long as I can remember.

Personally, I rather expect the issue has more to do with school administration rather than funding. Of course, the school district would blame a lack of funding- that's somebody else's fault. They're certainly not going to admit to systemic failures.

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

You somehow manage to willfully misread or miss the entire point. Yes of course Hartford can't match the per student municipal funding of suburban Connecticut. That is why I said that the issue is the school funding is being done on the municipal level.

Municipal property taxes paying for schools reduces the equalizing effect that state funding should have.

Yes, New England Republicans do tend to be much different than other states. No educational spending is not solely tied to party platform that ignores that blue states on average have higher house hold incomes and GDP due to historical & socioeconomic factors.

This is just yelling at clouds rather than seeking meaningful solutions to resolve issue. You are complaining that senators are upset about the failure of the educational system. Btw one of those senators introduced legislation to prevent this from happening again. Link.

They're certainly not going to admit to systemic failures.

Did you read the article? What do you think "State Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and Sen. Eric Berthel said in their Dec. 19 letter. 'We continue to seek accountability as to how this student was illiterate when she graduated and how the system failed her year after year'" they meant when they wrote this.

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[-] cupcakezealot 4 points 2 days ago

I'm entirely convinced that Republicans are just using this as a wedge issue anyway; they don't care about Aleysha one bit.

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[-] Fuzemain@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Dude you know Hartford, CT is about as DNC as it gets right?

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[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 68 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I hope she wins.

I was pigeonholed holed into the remedial track and stonewalled whenever I tried to get out of it. They graduated me without the basic state requirements.

I recently called them just asking for a piece of paper saying that I did not fulfill the requirements and did not properly graduate. They refused me and insisted that I was fine. I did get them to admit that I tested Advance Proficient for science even though I was placed in remedial science.

I just want this piece of (legal)paper so I have one less brainworm while I fix my education for real.

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

I don't doubt she will. CT's Constitution's Article 18 provides for a free public education. She seems to have been denied that here.

[-] Forester@pawb.social 8 points 3 days ago

You're better off. Just getting a GED

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

I have one. It's exactly the same as a HS diploma. Just a path to community college.

[-] nomy@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 days ago

Honestly, I wish I'd just dropped at 16 and gotten my associates. I could've gotten into a city where there are jobs and education opportunities by the time I was 20 and have been positioned a lot better.

I wouldn't actually recommend anyone reading this to drop out, but hindsight is 20/20 and I think it would've worked for me.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

If it's just about employability, sure. You can also just get your GED without dropping out of high school. You can probably just start CC as a summer student with the GED without dropping out of HS. There's no national database of student transcripts and colleges don't have the resources to call every HS to see if you may have been a student. A lot of this shit runs off of assumptions and the honor system.

My issue is that this has nothing to do with employability for me.

At one point, I was so desperate to get out of the remedial track, I told the guidance counselors I would drop out and enroll the next year if the classes were "filled up". They thought I was bluffing and stuck me back in the shit classes. They gave me the shit classes, so I dropped out and before I went back, I got a GED and tried CC. It was terrible. The exact same "Cs get degrees" mentality that made remedial classes so depressing. I went back to HS and got one year of the more advanced classes and got exactly the same grades. Turns out that when you're not getting bullied by kids with probationary officers, you can handle the more advanced material just fine.

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

POur cc had UC level courses so students are extra screwed for stem and paper writing at least 10% are guaranteed to not pass the class every semester doesn't mention how many are getting D and Cs. Math not so much, but people are graduating hs being ill prepared for algebra even. In a blue area, people are graduating with barely a arithmetic skill level of math, let alone algebra is too advanced for these people . I know people had made fun of people with algebra in college, but it's becoming a growing problem, also goes same for writing

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

And if you try to backup, the CCs block you. I got sick of dealing with my local CC, so I tried applying to one a bit further away. The made me take a placement test and refused to let me take a class because I apparently tested out of it. I do not respect placement tests.

I recently tried the local CC again after being assured that I could retake any class at the 4-year that I took at the CC. This time, they required that I declare a major as a freshmen. I did my own research and know which classes I would need for various majors. I was going to select ones that were requirements for a broad selection of majors so I wouldn't feel like I was putting myself on a rail so early, but they weren't going to let me do anything without declaring something. It's such a stupid requirement when you can just switch later anyway, but it feels like it's designed to cause a sunk-cost fallacy. There's at least one much better school that refuses to let their incoming students declare a major until after their first semester because they want their students to try various things before deciding on a path.

They need to stop trying to be my life coach and just sell me the classes I want to buy.

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[-] jockl@feddit.org 30 points 3 days ago

Well, the picture is showing German words, I suppose many US students would find it hard to read those correctly... Did they not have enough time to actually look at the stock photo they chose?

[-] underwire212@lemm.ee 12 points 2 days ago

She was the one who chose the stock photo

[-] Chip_Rat@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Case closed.

[-] androidul@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

yes, because she was unable to read and write in German

I hate to go 'Boy, I don't buy it' but, uh, I kinda don't?

This is one of those things that COULD happen, as long as every teacher, every administrator and the state itself were all intentionally trying to make it happen.

CT has standardized tests that are required to be taken to progress through school, so how can someone who can't read or write pass those?

And EVERY teacher she had from first grade on just accepted the fact she clearly was unable to read or write, and thus was almost certainly not doing any work, and just decided that's a-ok and we'll just pass her along anyways without doing anything?

Somehow feels like there's a lot more to this story than just her side as presented by that article.

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 43 points 3 days ago

As a teacher, admin will not listen.

“Hey this kid cannot read. Hey this kid smells like shit and has been wearing the same outfit for the past two weeks. Hey this kid is telling her classmates which gas stations will sell vape carts to minors.”

Me: "My kid has a learning disability. Can you give her some reasonable accommodations?"

My Kids School: "But does she really though?"

Me: "Uh, yeah. She has a diagnosis. From a psychiatrist. Also, you have noticed her grades are abysmal, right?"

School: "They're not that bad. She's actually doing pretty well."

Me: "She has mostly D's and F's. Is that seriously what you consider 'pretty well'?"

School: "..."

I'm doing some major paraphrasing but this is the gist of actual conversations with my daughters school administration. I'm not saying I believe it's very likely that someone could graduate without being able to read and write. I'm just saying that in some school districts, there's a greater than zero percent chance of that happening.

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[-] JeSuisUnHombre@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago

(without looking into it to verify) isn't this likely because of "no child left behind"?

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

No, more complicated.

We stopped teaching phonics (which is something that we had already tried in the 70s, to similar disastrous results). The “whole language” approach just does not work for the vast majority of children.

Digital devices and the instant gratification machine/shot attention spans also make it so less children are reading for pleasure, so that way that some failed children would at least “make it” through interest and passion is less common too.

The NCLB/ESSA aspects are pulling time from social studies and science, which hamper the ability to think critically about what is read. The focus on state testing also means that literature instruction rarely involves reading entire books, but instead excerpts and passages in high school English classes, which more explicitly mirror what is assessed on the ACT, etc.

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[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

CT has standardized tests that are required to be taken to progress through school

I don't know about CT, but I deliberately failed one of my state required tests in NJ and they passed me anyway. It's all theater.

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

I absolutely buy it. I know someone whose job it is to teach kids in grade 6-8 how to read. Some can't read three letter words. This is in a blue state. This teacher I know frequently talks about most of her colleagues being grossly negligent in a variety of ways.

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

i can confirm, in my hs in a very blue cali area, tons of people were struggling the courses, and they just passed them for the most part. once they get into Community college, you can see a ton of them struggling in the most basic courses( of course students are from all over the us) but more or less they come from the same HS system(pass all D- high F grade earners). the professors themselves also notice this trend, at the time i was in CC, they said people were only getting a 9th grade math education, and a 10th grade reading writing essay education), it has gotten worst since then.

our CC also had university level stem courses, and you can imagine most dont do well in the class(C isnt really considered a good thing), in terms if you want to transfer to a UNIVERSITY(NOT A non-low level tiered one)

[-] HowAbt2morrow@futurology.today 21 points 3 days ago

US in last fucking place in 1st world in Education, life expectancy but the number one in war. This teen needs to join the army, lose a leg and become a hero if he wants to be somebody. Thank you for your service sucker.

[-] EldritchFeminity 9 points 3 days ago

Except she's a woman, so very likely to be sexually assaulted in the military (and that's if she even gets in, DEI and all that), and vets get shafted as well. Her losing a leg to an IED will be ruled "not service related," and she will be denied any funds related to care or issues resulting from said injury after she leaves the military.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

I hate that this holds any truth. It is really sad to see all of the mismanagement in the military

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[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

they wont be able to join if they cant even pass the asvab for the military, i heard alot of graduates struggling with that. what helped recruitment in the last 1-2 years was military propaganda(like top gun maverick). Having untreated dyslexia makes you ineligible for the military nanyways

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[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

its underfunded for sure, even in blue areas, or its being mismanged. even in my blue area the hs just passes people with a failing or D grade in thier classes to graduate hs. not enough funding goes into struggling students that is not in the SP.ED group, often times these students get dumped into "remedial classes that are not part of the normal curriculum of a HS", just filler classes. the problem is they are willing to sacrifice students education just to maintain funding,(hence the participation grades) which sets up students for failure, and is a disservice that they cant even pass community college courses, even more disadvantaged when it comes to community colleges that has to have "certified courses with universities(typified by the increased difficulty of the course when compared to other nearby schools). when i was hs in 2000s, there were only a handful of really successful students, how did we know the administration thought it was a good idea to rub in the faces of the rest of the student body, they framed the meeting in a way that "look at these bright people, and look at you in the audience", everyone just sighed out of annoyance.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

While there are many problems with standardized testing, I think this is where people say we need standardized testing.

If a school is pulling that shit, there needs to be a way to catch it and do something about it

[-] aesthelete@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago
[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 2 days ago

But knows how to litigate? Only in the US.

[-] skozzii@lemmy.ca 34 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

If you think she is filing this herself then you might want to sue your school as well!

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

Almost always the parents

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 2 days ago

Sue a school? You must be from the US.

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[-] underwire212@lemm.ee 9 points 2 days ago

Sometimes I read certain comments that get me thinking. Are you really this dense? Or are you trying to get a rise out of people?

OBVIOUSLY they didn’t file for litigation themselves my lord

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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
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