In the US, a 19-year-old honors graduate sues her school for illiteracy
Kyiv • UNN
A high school graduate in Hartford with the best grades cannot read or write. Alicia Ortiz filed a lawsuit against the school, accusing the management of negligence and lack of proper support.
Alisha Ortiz is 19 years old and dreams of writing short stories someday - it may seem like a reasonable aspiration, but for Alisha, this path will be much more difficult.
Transmits to UNN with reference to CNN.
Alisha Ortiz graduated with top marks and is now attending the University of Connecticut on a scholarship. But Ortiz is facing serious charges against her former school, a public high school in her hometown of Hartford, Connecticut.
This was reported by the American TV channel CNN, which also met with Aleisha Ortiz.
According to the interview, Ortiz is illiterate. According to the 19-year-old, she did not receive any special support at school.
But after 12 years of attending public schools in Hartford, Aleisha testified at a city council meeting in May 2024 that she could neither read nor write.
The 19-year-old believes that the school should have offered her more help and support to learn to read and write. She feels ignored and let down by the authorities. So she sued the local board of education, her hometown of Hartford, and her special needs teacher. She accuses school officials of negligence, including her special education supervisor, Tilda Santiago, of negligently causing emotional distress.
Jonathan Harding, the city's director of legal affairs, told CNN: “I don't normally comment publicly on ongoing litigation.” CNN reached out to Santiago through his lawyer but did not receive a response.
Ortiz said in an interview with CNN that she used the software to help her, and then demonstrated her technique: she scanned texts with her smartphone and read out the words. She completed written assignments using a dictation program.
Alesha Ortiz has big plans for the future: after graduating from college, she wants to become a writer
