Connecticut Girl Sues School for Awarding Honors Diploma Despite Inability to Read or Write

Aleysha Ortiz, a 19-year-old graduate of Hartford Public High School, is suing the Hartford Board of Education, the City of Hartford, and her former special education case manager, Tilda Santiago. Despite graduating with honors and receiving a scholarship to the University of Connecticut, Ortiz argues she is illiterate, can’t read or write, and was systemically failed by the education system meant to assist her.

Ortiz’s case is causing outrage and concern over educational neglect, namely in the public school system. She addressed the Hartford City Council to testify, describing her experience and the lack of intervention that permitted her to fall behind in school. The very fact that an honors student cannot read or write is an indication of systemic breakdowns, particularly for students with learning disabilities.

Her mother, Carmen Cruz, struggled to be an advocate for her daughter but was hindered greatly by the language barrier, speaking very little English. Cruz was not familiar with the system and thus found it challenging to obtain the assistance Ortiz so badly needed.

By the time she was in the sixth grade, Ortiz’s reading level was that of a kindergarten or first-grade student. She was passed through each grade with little intervention despite this. In high school, she was put under special education case manager Tilda Santiago, who she says bullied and harassed her instead of providing her with the assistance she required.

Ortiz’s lawsuit argues that Santiago’s conduct was not only unhelpful but also harmful. She accuses Santiago of humiliating her in front of her peers and teachers, mocking her learning disabilities, and even stalking her in school. It got to the point where Santiago was eventually removed from her role as Ortiz’s case manager due to their “dysfunctional relationship.”

Despite repeated requests for a dyslexia test, Ortiz was not tested until just a month before she graduated from high school. The test revealed that she indeed had dyslexia, a learning disability that results in reading difficulty requiring explicitly taught phonemic, fluency, and comprehension skills. Those basic educational needs had gone unaddressed for over a decade.

Ortiz’s lawsuit accuses the Hartford Board of Education and the City of Hartford of negligence. It also accuses Santiago of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Ortiz contends the school system knowingly deprived her of a functional education and failed in their duty to educate students with special needs.

Hartford Public Schools issued a statement saying they could not comment on active litigation but reaffirmed their pledge to serve students’ diverse array of needs. City legal officials have also refused to comment on the suit.

Ortiz’s story is not an exception but a mirror of systemic issues in the U.S. education system, particularly for special education and minority students. Jesse Turner, director of the Literacy Center at Central Connecticut State University, notes that disparities in educational quality often follow zip codes and demographics. A 2019 report by EdBuild found that school districts that enroll predominantly non-White students receive $23 billion less in funding than schools that enroll predominantly White students. Hartford public schools, whose minority student enrollment has stood at approximately 90% in recent years, are an embodiment of such systemic inequities.