College freshman sues CT school system after graduating as an illiterate

How is this possible?

Perhaps she should have started by learning to spell her own name.

All kidding aside, it’s good that she’s suing. There’s virtually no way to hold districts accountable other than suing.

The Department of Educations’s Office of Civil Rights is useless. They pay attorneys hefty salaries to send out form letters to families of disabled kids who file complaints with OCR.

My question - her family didn't notice she couldn't read or write during her 12 years in school ? Where is their responsibility ? Did they not check on her doing homework or help with homework like engaged, responsible parents and siblings do ? I have a feeling this will all come out should this lawsuit move forward.

But how did she take tests? This story doesn’t make a lot of sense.

r5 Yeah, this seems hinky.

Perhaps she has been bribed by MAGA eugenicists. They will claim she was passed on and up without control because of DEI. This is an egg on face for UCONN which is supposed to be a legit university capable of serving the mediocre who make it there, as well as the excellent. If she is illiterate, she is not mediocre. This likely means she is a task-completion intellect and never once questioned what was going on around her and never once woke up and told her teacher - I CANNOT READ. The story doesn't make sense. Perhaps she is is severely dyslexic and her school would not spend the money for the special ed she needed.

All and all, in her teen years, if she is intelligent, she could have started to make a fuss. As could her parents.

So there are many many unanswered questions here.

If they were multiiple-choice tests, without too much difficulty, R5. You can learn the most probable patterns for those, too, meaning that if you understand broadly how a question setter tends to shift the right answer around among the boxes over the course of the test, you don't have to read the question to get the right answer a lot of the time.

Per the article she's dyslexic. That isn't the school district's fault; she and her family should have demanded accommodations when she was in elementary school.

Oh egg on MY face at R7! I should have read the article first. Indeed, dyslexia:

"During her last month at Hartford Public High School, after she disclosed she was attending the University of Connecticut in the fall, Ortiz completed additional testing that revealed she had dysleia and "required explicitly taught phonics, fluency and reading comprehension," the first of which is taught in kindergarten."

The school did fail to server her and kept it quiet. Her parents must be imbecile that they did no advocacy for this young lady.

Someone in her family was doing her homework

R8, yeah but she was an honors student. Chances are that not every test was multiple choice either.

Many schools do NOT want dyslexia diagnoses because they cannot afford the special ed that is then required. So the school could share some of the responsibility.

Yeah -- like this never happens...

It would be interesting if all the illiterate kids who graduated from high school sued their schools. But for the most part, the students don't really care. They just want to graduate and leave schooling behind forever.

School districts have a duty to screen for learning disabilities. Many don’t, and they actively fight parents who request screening and / or accommodations or IEPs.

It’s truly disgraceful. As noted above, OCR is supposed to provide oversight, but they simply send out form letter s rejecting complaints. OCR actually does more harm than good by claiming to provide oversight while they do nothing.

Parents should be encouraged to proceed directly to litigation.

If this were even remotely true, her multiple choice test scores (including the SAT) would be horrible. Her essay test scores would be even worse. This is not adding up.

AI: "The University of Connecticut (UConn) has adopted a test-optional policy through the fall 2026 admission cycle, meaning submitting SAT or ACT scores is not mandatory for applicants. For applicants who choose to submit standardized test scores, the middle 50% of admitted students typically have SAT scores ranging from 1220 to 1440."

So she applied based on her transcript and did not submit SATs?

You can’t really function very well or independently, if you’re illiterate, but maybe with today’s tech advances, one could?

How did she even manage to test into a university? Even without taking an SAT, you have to test into even the most bare bones of community colleges.

I’ve worked with people who are technically illiterate, so maybe it is possible, however, this is something more common in rural areas of the south. I’d imagine that any school district in the NE wouldn’t allow for someone to slip through the cracks like this?

I have also come across younger coworkers while living in a blue state, who can barely spell or compose a full, correctly written sentence.

I can’t imagine the anxiety one must feel when they can barely read or write. It must be AWFUL.

Imagine going through life like this? You’re basically rendered powerless & have very little control over how you live your life, where you live, who you date, make friends with, etc. Even basics like understanding medical treatment or medication compliance is out of your reach without someone else walking you through the entire process.

Her performance on regular old in-class chapter tests should have been a continuous red flag.

"How did she even manage to test into a university? Even without taking an SAT, you have to test into even the most bare bones of community colleges."

In what way? Entry test? Many state universities you send your transcripts and if required standardised test scores and that is it. UCONN currently has an opt out.

the main university has guaranteed admission for those having done 3.0 at community colleges. But his person was accepted straight into UCONN from HS. See next bullet.

• Guaranteed Admission Program (GAP): Designed for students beginning their studies at Connecticut State Community Colleges, GAP guarantees admission to UConn for those who complete an associate degree in specific programs with a minimum 3.0 GPA (3.3 for the School of Business). 

Now read this, which AI found for me:

• UConn Alliance Pathway: This initiative identifies high-achieving students from Connecticut’s Alliance Schools—districts with significant improvement opportunities—and provides enhanced support throughout the application process, including fee waivers and workshops. 

And then I prompted: Hartford Public High School is this an alliance school?

AI: Yes, Hartford Public High School is part of the Hartford School District, which is designated as an Alliance District by the Connecticut State Department of Education. The Alliance District program targets the state’s lowest-performing districts, providing them with additional support and resources to enhance student outcomes. As a school within this district, Hartford Public High School benefits from initiatives aimed at improving educational performance.

So it reveals a huge mess. She wasin a school that was supposed to SPECIFICALLY provide enhanced report. Which failed her.

And reading between the lines, perhaps UCONN central accepts subpar graduates of such schools, as yes - "equal opportunity" or "dei".

This young lady has been rubber stamped "Acceptable" year after year. Likely for at least 8 years. She finally woke the fuck up. She and her family need to accept some responsibility. She her self. Her parents might themselves be illiterate in English or maybe also in Spanish, too.

R16, I question the veracity of this story as well, however, I promise you that there are many more out there who are illiterate, than what we would assume. And we’re not even discussing immigrants to whom English is a second language.

[quote] I have also come across younger coworkers while living in a blue state, who can barely spell or compose a full, correctly written sentence. I can’t imagine the anxiety one must feel when they can barely read or write. It must be AWFUL.

These kids? Feel awful? Pul-eeze. That article at OP gives you the answer -- if they can't read, write, or spell, it must be someone else's fault. I know! I'll sue the school.

My middle sister (RIP) had two kids, and neither one of them has a brain to speak of. Of course, my sister and her husband met at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, so that tells you all you need to know about that.

The older son, who went to a regular school, was failing constantly, but kept getting moved up to the next grade, as is typical. One summer, he was required to take online summer school classes, because he had failed two courses. Then he failed the summer school courses. My sister called me, livid. "How can they fail him? Don't they just give out the answers? I'm paying for these courses! He's supposed to pass!"

He now works in a factory, making shingles. They both live at home with their dad, 65.

The "illiteracy" is likely being exaggerated. (functionally illiterate for example is not completely illiterate but I bet this lady is above "functionally illiterate"). But it's probably well below the level required for success in University.

AI

The reading level of a severely dyslexic teenager who manages to graduate from a U.S. public high school can vary widely, depending on the support they received, their coping strategies, and their individual abilities. However, based on functional literacy studies and education accommodations, here’s what can be expected:

Typical Reading Level Range • A severely dyslexic high school graduate may read at a 4th to 6th-grade level if they have had limited interventions. • With intensive support (such as structured literacy programs like Orton-Gillingham or Wilson Reading), they may reach a 7th to 9th-grade reading level. • Some dyslexic students with strong compensatory skills (like audiobooks, dictation software, and strong verbal intelligence) may function at a higher level, despite difficulties with fluency or spelling.

And I wonder when UCONN figured out this student has no business there.

Does their ALLIANCE program really offer the remedial college prep programs it seems to promise to such admits?

My Swiss university has one for the Engineering Bachelor. If the "charitable" admits fail in the special programme, they actually don't start freshman year. There are several every year who have no business starting university so they are weeded out, technically, before freshman year. Some could be so dull they may not even be aware they are not "in university" yet, but in a "trial" programme.

Maaybe UCONN's alliance program is bullshit. And she was rubber stamped by that, and voila. Had her first semester and failed spectacularly.

If a case is serious enough to warrant OCR actually investigating, it should nearly always either be a criminal complaint or civil complaint instead.

OCR only investigates very clear cut, egregious violations. Unless you are trying to reform a particular school district, you are going to get help much more quickly by filing a criminal complaint or civil lawsuit.

OCR also takes years— that is multiple years— to investigate. You’re spinning your wheels by filing a complaint with them if what you need is immediate help for your child.

This may be the only thing I agree with in terms of Trump’s revamping of the Department of Education. He states he wants to streamline the DOED to provide more money directly to the districts. This isn’t his goal, of course. If it really were his goal, it might be an interesting conversation.

But, the way local districts are run… it would curl your hair. No one has any idea what they are doing. They devote most of their resources to covering up wrongdoing.

The special ed/IEP problems facing public schools are horrible.

These schools have limited budgets, competing priorities, and are so strained to begin with. Then all these kids with IEP needs — again there’s a finite pot of money so what starts getting cut when you need to hire all these 1:1 aides, because you have as many as 10% of the students needing individualized instruction 1:1?

I’ll tell you what gets cut. All the other kids don’t get music. Or art. Or a working A/C & ventilation system. Or, and especially, a decent student:teacher ratio in all the general-ed classrooms.

[quote]HINKY, not kinky

Never found the two to be mutually exclusive.

JD Vance and Stephen Miller surely have a eugenics based solution of the very real challenge at R26. The kids with faulty learning skills can be sent to the work camps. It's nature's way.

R4, children of non English speaking immigrants usually do poorly in school, unless they’re a bit above average in intelligence & have a strong support system throughout their K-12 education.

It also depends a lot of when you matriculated through the public school system, and where. Usually, the better the school district, the better opportunity a child has when measuring literacy.

Honestly? Here’s where having an above average IQ really matters or gives a child a slight edge. Either you’re going to get “it”, or you’re not. I’d also add that being introduced to reading, writing and spelling before reaching Kindergarten also makes all the difference, even if learning to read, write and spell in a language other than English.

R28 you’re not far from it. The plan to dismantle the federal Dept of Education is a plan to put all responsibility and decisions onto the individual states. Reflecting their individual political makeup and priorities. If your kid needs an IEP and you’re in Libville, MA then you’ll maybe do ok. If your kid needs an IEP and you’re in Magaville, Idaho then it’s “homeschooling” for you because there will be no IEP.

Tell you what. Right now you'd be shocked to realize how many kids are not able to read cursive handwriting much less do it. They cannot tell time and they cannot do basic math. They are tech babies. They may be very intelligent, but the basic tools I had to learn to use elude them.

Yes I was only exaggerating based on fact. This is what much of the ideologues now in control have in mind. This is a perfect example of rubber stamping lack of skill as "acceptable", and the majority of people do not want that, of any political stripe, but the complex context will not be broached.

Tell that to a person of Korean or Chinese descent, R29.

She should blame her loser parents for not appropriately parenting her.

The sad truth is that the USA is a very wealthy country and has the money to support a proper education system from kindergarten to the BS or technical diploma level. As many wealth countries do. Biden and Harris both would have moved it towards affordable public higher education, as one example. But we are going to race down the toilet towards a true kleptocracy where all the wealth goes to a few and the average citizen do not share in it, in terms of health, education, and facilities.

She could be the next Beyonce.

There's always strippin'

Something sounds very fishy about this story. There's no damn way that girl could have graduated with honors from high school having never had to write or read anything for her teachers to review. And there's no way she could have been granted acceptance to a university not knowing how to read or write.

Sorry, ain't buyin' it.

I bet the situation is she reads and rights at elementary school level. Reading probably higher than writing. If she is labelled severely dyslexic there are limits about what can be evaluated in writing.

I can no longer judge any of my university students for spelling if they have a "certificate". It could have been unspoken in the Hartford HS that she is "acceptable" to pass because dyslexic. Meaning, never developing work arounds.

I know dyslexics who graduate university but certainly NOT in humanities.

reads and writes.

OK, R33, point well taken. However, again, where one lives and attends school makes a HUGE difference.

Bottom line: Nutrition & money.

If she was in a mostly black school where everyone speaks Ebonics, she might have seemed like a genius.

Hartford does not have the wealthiest school district. At all.

The situation is horrifying, but we shouldn’t be surprised. There are still countries where promotion from one grade to the next is based on mastery, competency, demonstration of skills. The U.S., sadly, is not one of those countries. We move students up based on seat time. You showed up enough? Or we were able to fudge our attendance records? You’re moving up.

I try to avoid even reading threads like these. I don’t want my blood pressure to go up. That her case made news is interesting. But she’s not an anomaly. Tons of kids have high school diplomas but they’re functionally illiterate.

I spent part of my career supervising pre-service and new in-service teachers in their field work/student teaching. Plenty of THEM have questionable literacy skills as well.

The blame in Aleysha’s case goes all around: her schools, the Board of Ed, and of course, her family.

The time to ring the alarm bells is not when she’s already in college. FFS. When you are the parent of a child entering second grade - yes, second grade - and your child cannot read independently, THAT is the time to make noise.

And people wonder how someone like Trump could have been elected.

I’m glad I’m old; I don’t see this situation improving in my lifetime.

I'm suing my elementary school because they told me that grammar, spelling, and good cursive handwriting were important life skills.

Plenty of people cheat their way through school. They see education as a stupid boring series of hoops they're forced to jump through, and they take the easiest way possible. That's how your president did it.

She's probably lying about being illiterate too.

Is there anyway to get a copy of one of her tests?

[quote] The school did fail to server her and kept it quiet. Her parents must be imbecile that they did

Oh, DEAR

[quote]Her parents might themselves be illiterate in English or maybe also in Spanish, too.

I believe her mother doesn't speak English.

[quote] School districts have a duty to screen for learning disabilities. Many don’t, and they actively fight parents who request screening and / or accommodations or IEPs.

[quote] It’s truly disgraceful.

What's disgraceful is the large number of juniors and seniors who suddenly develop ADHD and want accommodations so that they get extra time on exams. Schools are largely powerless to deny whatever bullshit accommodation parents want.

How did she pass state-mandated competency exams? UConn average SAT is in the 1200 range. Did she not take the SAT or ACT? This story sounds like bullshit or this girl is being used by some group to advance an agenda for charter schools or something else.

And is UCONN on the grift? How did she get in UCONN?

[quote]Hartford does not have the wealthiest school district.

Yes, I'm not shocked by Hartford public schools but this is a surprise about UConn.

So, she wilfully hid the fact she couldn't read or write all through elementary, middle, and high school by likely cheating and using apps to complete assignments, and now it's someone else's fault that she can't read or write?

Also, how did she use apps to complete assignments if she cannot read or write? Even using AI and google require you to input something to get an answer back. If she cannot read or write, how did she do that?

Not only is she blaming others for her own behavior, but her story isn't even credible. Finally, there is no way to prove she cannot read or write. You cannot prove a negative.

[quote] I believe her mother doesn't speak English.

I teach primary grades. I get kids who come and can’t speak English, let alone read it. The parents are literate in their native tongue but not in English. Inevitably within one year, the children are reading and translating for the parents. These circumstances seem EXTREME

Here's a good link about this case. It sounds like she was doing everything she could to hide her limitations.

It takes guts to say you are illiterate while graduating with honors. I don’t know what good it does.

"How is this possible?"

Nothing is anyone's fault anymore, no one has any personal responsibility. From the White House down to this dumbass. I'm glad I'll never have children, the future is fucked.

From the link at r56, it sounds like this girl had so many other problems, including aggressive behavior, "hand fatigue" (?) for which the family often requested occupational therapy, and so on that they just overlooked the dyslexia. Students like this who have so many problems are not really served by sitting in regular school classes. I still don't understand how she got into UConn, and I think that piece of the story is deliberately being omitted because it would reveal either she cheated to get in or she's functionally literate in spite of her claims to the contrary.

From the article at r56:

[quote] Ortiz was front and center in funding advocacy her senior year through letters to the city council, state legislature, state Department of Education and a senior capstone project titled “Special Education: A systemic failure.”

So how did she do all that if she's functionally illiterate? What group is using her and her story?

[quote] “I should have had the help of a special education teacher, a paraprofessional, lessons designed to meet me where I was and challenge me, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. I felt like [no one] cared about my future, because I didn’t receive those supports. I now realize that this was due to a lack of funding and the inability to keep good teachers and staff,” Ortiz wrote to state legislators.

So how did she write if she can't read and write?

I mentioned upthread at R17. UCONN currently does not require SAT scores. It would seem her HS gave her high marks, however.

[quote]Schools are largely powerless to deny whatever bullshit accommodation parents want.

You couldn’t be more wrong. Districts push back forcefully and will fight parents tooth and nail on every trivial accommodation. Even when you get an accommodation in paper, teachers routinely ignore them.

"“I should have had the help of a special education teacher, a paraprofessional, lessons designed to meet me where I was and challenge me, speech therapy, and occupational therapy"

Sorry, but what's the point? So she can get to the most basic level. Resources should be going to students with at least a smidgen of potential.

[quote]I believe her mother doesn't speak English.

This family has been here since the girl was 5 and the mother still can't be bothered to learn English. This suggests that learning and education is a very low priority in this family. The parents are primarily to blame for this girl's problems.

I am a teacher. I sit in meetings throughout the year about students demanding frivolous accommodations. Your experience might be different, but in the state of Texas parents get what they want.

I have had a few dyslexic kids through the years. The main accommodation I had to make was to give them extra time to take tests, or, in some cases, to take the test separately at a different time and maybe in a different room, so as not to feel pressure from the the other kids finishing earlier.

There was a fascinating radio program I listened to years ago, about a guy who worked as a long-distance trucker for decades without it being discovered that he was illiterate. He had to learn to recognize that he was going to another state from the shape of the signs and asking people at the next rest stop as if had missed the sign. When he was delivering goods, he'd stop, pretend he was lost and get someone to point him in the right direction by literally pointing. It was mind-boggling to me. I've had other kids I've suspected of a certain level of dyslexic. Usually VERY quick memorizers, and very verbally adept (Their way of disguising their disability).

[quote] If she is labelled severely dyslexic

I label her a big fat fraud.

[quote] I believe her mother doesn't speak English.

Very likely she doesn't know how to speak English only when she thinks it will benefit her, like when she gets into some sort of trouble, like a speeding ticket.

"Lo siento oficial, no hablo inglés, por lo que no puede darme una multa"

translation

"Sorry officer I do not speak English so you can not give me a ticket"

Her essays were merely scratchings that she swore was ancient Sanskrit

Graduated with honors and accepted into college? She can't be THAT illiterate...

A colleague of mine might qualify as functionally illiterate. Very intelligent and knowledgeable, but certain things have come up that make me go, “huh?” Recently I had to make a big fuss and a instigate mini reorg of my immediate group because this person made it impossible to get stuff done (a big part was a refusal to put anything in writing), but I didn’t point out the issue because I can’t be sure. English is not their first language and I think that is what makes the cover up possible (in addition to intelligence). But I’ve worked in a lot of technical roles with non-native English speakers and this is different.

The person has a graduate degree from a top school.

When I was a kid, one of the Redskins players announced he was functionally illiterate. Reading an old article about it today, I see his old junior high and high school coaches disagreed/didn't believe him.

From 1989:

[quote]he had a learning disability that kept him reading at a first-grade level

[…]

[quote]He had memorized many words over the years, but he couldn't look at an unfamiliar word and sound it out. He would read an article, recognize four words a paragraph and try piecing together the meaning of the graph.

[…]

[quote][bold]Dexter learned how to get by. His favorite subject was history, he says, because "we didn't do anything in history. History wasn't essay questions. It was multiple choice, and I loved multiple choice! Because it was easy. I could guess. I could look at other people's papers."[/bold]

[…]

[quote]”I don't think he was illiterate," says Luther Booker, his coach at Yates. "He's whatever he wants to be. If he wants to be illiterate, he will be." Dexter's junior high coach, Timothy Moon, talks along the same lines: "Dexter was no genius but had a C average." "They won't face up to it, will they?" says Manley. But he adds that it is not Ryan's or Yates's fault he couldn't read. "It was too late by then," he says. "It all started in grammar school." He does suspect he was given passing grades so he could stay eligible for football. Both coaches deny the charge. "He wasn't passed {automatically} at Ryan," Moon says. "You know, I can't remember any teacher coming to me and saying, 'Dexter has a problem.' We had a playbook, and each kid had to be capable of diagraming plays and stating their jobs, and Dexter had no problem." Booker, asked if Dexter was automatically given passing grades at Yates, said, "I really don't think so . . . Listen, he never did flunk. Actually, he flunked one class, and he cried for a week about that. I tried to console him, and I said he could make it up and go to summer school. And here he was, 6-foot-3, walking down the hall crying, and he said he had to play pro football and he had no time to flunk . . . And he passed the course."

[…]

[quote]His class rank at Yates was 250th out of 405 kids. "Two-fifty! I thought I was smart," he says.

It wouldn't let me post the Washington Post link at R72, trying again using an archive link

It’s just those common Connecticut public schools. God, I wished I lived in Baltimore.

I don’t know if it would be considered illiteracy, but in my job I have to collect information from clients.

I give them a list of documents I need. It’s s list of maybe 12 items.

I would say only about 10% of clients are able to use the list, create a stack of documents, and bring the documents to our meeting.

The ones who do bring in documents will bring in loose pages, pages of one document mixed in with pages from other documents, missing pages, nothing clipped or grouped together, and maybe only 2 or 3 documents from the lust of 12 items.

Then they are SHOCKED when I tell them their document submission is incomplete.

These are often highly paid people with good jobs. I can’t imagine how they function at work.

I was once in a band called “The Lust of 12 Items.”

I just knew someone would bring up Dexter Manley in this thread.

[quote] How is this possible?

It's called not holding students accountable by failing them, if they do not meet the standards of coursework.

Some university students have not learned reading, writing, and analytical skills that they should have learned by the end of high school.

I work with 30+ social workers in a hospital (most of them are under 40). I have to read their notes for the day on each patient, put them in a file, and send them off to the 'attending doctor'. There's a format with explicit instructions on how to present their notes given to them at the beginning of their shift with a list of their patients for the day.

You wouldn't believe what is returned to me. Most of those under 40 write their notes like they're texting. Though the instructions say to detail certain activities with the patient and other info, they 'text write' and later ask 'what do you mean by details' ? They also say they 'didn't understand the directions' (which they've been given daily for years). If they do attempt to write in detail, they can't form a grammatically correct sentence and the spelling is awful (there is no 'spellcheck' on these forms they fill out). These are all college grads who have these jobs.

My brother works in a middle school. He says the school exceeds the amount of support given to students in other nearby districts. Still, the parents want more. The support staff gets frustrated because the kids make no effort to adapt to their own challenges. They won't do the work. A staffer could ask the student to have some accountability; then the parents complain they are overwhelming the child. So, as much work as the support staff does, the results are minuscule.

If a teacher gives any student anything lower than a "B" grade in a class, the parents come storming in, claiming the teachers are bad and deserve to be sued. I don't think the schools or the teachers are to blame.

I know there are young people who are brilliant, strong readers, critical and independent thinkers, inquisitive. But on balance - compared with when I began teaching at the end of the 70s (19, not 18) - the skills of college kids (re language, writing, speaking, etc) are way weaker than those of college kids decades ago.

All of that is compounded by the fact that (too) many of today’s college students have the attention span of a gnat.

When I was a young teacher, we could assign, for example, a novel to be read over the weekend. Then on Monday morning, we could have a three-hour discussion on one aspect of the novel – the plot, the theme, a particularcharacter’s motivation, whatever.

Now, we can assign one chapter or half a chapter, maybe have a ten- or fifteen-minute discussion… before they get super fidgety. We have to plan lessons that mimic TikTok in their frenzy of changing images and content. Edutainment.

Even with the seriously shortened hw task, you shouldn’t expect more than a quarter of the class to have done it. And even fewer to have reflected on it in any meaningful way in preparation for a discussion.

Finally (sorry, guess I need to vent), the curiosity that earlier generations readily exhibited is often absent now. When students come upon vocabulary or place names or historical events or names of famous people when they read, it rarely occurs to them to do a bit of research. If it’s not already familiar to them, they don’t see the point. Again, it’s not all young people. But so many.

I’ve probably told this story here before but it was such a wake-up call for me. Maybe twenty years ago, I was teaching a Freshman Composition class. One student, bright but lazy, never turned in assignments. I pulled him aside one day after class to see if we could chat and turn the situation around. After a few minutes, he looked down and said, “You wear no-brand shoes. Why should I listen to you?”

Why, yes dear, sue the school. You and YOUR PARENTS had absolutely nothing to do with your retardation. Nothing at all.

I'm calling bullshit on this - and I blame the parents, if it is true.

Hartford CT is an absolute shithole.

[quote]Right now you'd be shocked to realize how many kids are not able to read cursive handwriting much less do it.

OMFG you fussy old queens need to let this one go already. I can't read Medieval Gothic script. You know why? Because it's fucking irrelevant today.

R22 sounds similar to my problem niece. My sister and she have a strained relationship due to my sister’s communication issues. My niece stopped going to school her senior year and stayed inside her bedroom most of the school year. When asked why she wouldn’t go to school all we could get out of her was”They’re all a bunch of liars!” A few weeks later she came out of her bedroom only to stay with her boyfriend for a few days. She went back home and announced she had quit school, gone somewhere and taken a GED test and passed. She was now going to attend college the next year. So flash forward one year. She enrolls part time in a local community college but again refuses to attend classes. This time her boyfriend told her he’d get her a job at Starbucks where he works. He did and she lasted a few months. Now she’s back home in her bedroom.

[quote]Hartford does not have the wealthiest school district.

Hartford Public Schools (as well as New Haven Public Schools) are comparable to the South Bronx.

People who are unfamiliar with CT think it's this wealthy lily white state and that can't be further from the truth. Parts of CT can be GHETTO AF.

Gay men are known to have excellent writing skills.

It's not that they're stupid (or the wrong color, for that matter)- they are just LAZY. Like their parents.

I teach in STEM at a real university and in business at a "red brick" university and 75% of STEM undergraduates are still critical thinkers and have autonomy and curiosity. 30% at most of business students seem to any lights on at all. It's not a top school, of course, and they are task completion minds. They complete tasks with no insight into the subject, and they are dumbfounded that anything beyond task completion is required. When they do presentations, they say words but don't know the meanings. And so and so on. They cannot research from valid information sources and last years AI launch was the nail in the coffin.

Unable to fathom nor accept what I had to deal with I completely changed my methodology and asked them to use AI extensively this semester. OMG. They hit complex task points blindingly fast and accurately. In 1.5 hours this week, groups in one class completed a project that would have taken 2-3 courses of 2.25 hours, two years ago. And they were creative and motivated and had fun. I was blown away. It was genuinely good work. The fact is, half of their cognitive capacity is located in their brains and half is located in data and algorithms off site, on the internet. It's new to this generation. They are fundamentally different than 30 years worth of other college students. This was, however, mostly sophomores. I hope my freshman students wake up soon.

They are EXTREMELY lazy if they are not online. And if anything seems old hat. That is the truth. And nothing we can do will change that. Im going to retire in a few years but I am fascinated to see if I can get them using AI cleverly to do good work in their professional domains. I had a conversation this week with AI about this and AI told me increasingly Silicon Valley companies are incorporating what we consider "non-critical, rather task completion" mindset employees into their company work flows.

This is a summary of why in some ways we old persnickety critical thinkers are dodo birds:

Task-Based Thinkers: Incorporated, Not Shunned, in Corporate Workflows

Companies are not rejecting task-based thinkers; they are actively integrating them into streamlined, process-driven workflows. With the rise of AI-assisted decision-making, automation, and standardized corporate systems, businesses increasingly value efficiency, consistency, and execution over deep conceptual analysis.

Why Task-Based Thinkers Fit Well in Corporate Environments: ✔ Standardized Workflows – Many corporate processes are structured around predefined steps, making task-oriented execution ideal. ✔ Automation & AI Support – AI tools reduce the need for independent problem-solving by providing pre-analyzed data and solutions. ✔ Scalability & Predictability – Large organizations prefer repeatable, measurable work that doesn’t rely on high-level abstraction. ✔ Productivity Metrics Over Insight – Companies often prioritize completion rates, response times, and adherence to protocols over deep reflection.

The Shift from Conceptual to Task-Based Intelligence

Older generations, trained in conceptual thinking (which emphasizes strategic reasoning, abstract problem-solving, and critical analysis), often assume that deep thinking is what drives success. However, many modern workplaces function differently, prioritizing speed, adaptability, and competence within structured workflows.

✔ Critical & conceptual thinkers still matter, but they are now often concentrated in leadership roles, innovation teams, or specialized problem-solving areas. ✔ Task-based thinkers are not seen as lacking intelligence, but rather as efficient workers in structured systems that require execution rather than original insight. ✔ AI is shifting the nature of work – intelligence is increasingly about knowing how to use AI effectively, rather than deep, independent analysis.

Are Older Generations Overestimating the Need for Deep Thinking?

Many seasoned professionals believe critical thinking is always superior, but in today’s corporate world, thinking for thinking’s sake isn’t always rewarded. In some business environments, clear execution, AI-augmented decision-making, and process efficiency matter more than independent deep thought.

📌 Bottom Line: Task-based thinkers aren’t being phased out—they are being optimized into business structures where their strengths fit. The need for conceptual thinking still exists, but its dominance in defining business success is no longer universal.

There are two different kinds of students with disabilities. The ones in wealthy districts show up with diagnoses and know the law. They milk their accommodations and demand everything they are legally entitled to, and more. Districts don't do anything but cave to the demands of parents like that.

Then there are kids like the one in the article. I think her needs were so complex and time consuming no one thought to have her tested for dyslexia. Behavioral problems requiring restraint and weird demands from families about her "hand fatigue" problem took a lot of the school's limited time and resources. That's a failing, for sure, I bet the story is a lot more complicated than what this person claims.

She obviously knew she had dyslexia because she started the workarounds years ago. Described it as hell.

R91, you think this is “The New Yorker” magazine?

r91 = 87% Probability AI generated

R95 R94 Of course it is an AI analysis, and my first paragraph SAYS SO. Sheesh.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — A $3 million settlement offer has been filed in a lawsuit that alleged educational neglect and abuse by Hartford Public Schools, the attorneys representing the complaint announced Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleged the Board of Education, the city, and a special education instructor failed in allowing Aleysha Ortiz to graduate without being able to read or write.

It claimed Ortiz’s “learning disabilities were not properly addressed by the Board, and as a result, she continued to struggle academically.”

Tuesday’s settlement offer addresses three legal counts, including negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, according to Attorney Anthony Spinella, Jr. of Barry, Taylor & Levesque, LLC.

“My time in Hartford Public Schools was a time that I don’t wish upon anyone,” Ortiz told News 8 earlier this year.

Ortiz moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, becoming a Hartford Public Schools student in the first grade. She struggled with a speech impediment, dyslexia, ADHD, and, initially, a language barrier.

When she sat down with News 8 in February, Ortiz said she was bullied, harassed, and neglected by district employees.

One specific complaint named Tilda Santiago, a special education case manager and teacher, who would allegedly “yell at, belittle, and humiliate [Ortiz] in front of other students and teachers.”

Case manager Norma Reyes was also accused of contributing emotional harm through similar actions.

News 8 has reached out to Hartford Public Schools for comment. The City of Hartford declined to comment due to the pending litigation.

Literate enough to file a legal action

This is due to woke liberals lowering standards (anti-meritocracy) and getting rid of standardized tests/grading, calling them racists because certain kids can't keep up.

Public school teachers in woke blue states (like CT) have stopped assigning homework, too.

Ur education has been catering to the lowest common denominator for decades. Feelings over results.

r99 demonstrates the poor reasoning skills of a conservative. In most conservative states, (particularly in the South), test scores are shockingly low - much lower than in the northeast (including Ct) and the upper Midwest. In standardized test scores administered to ALL public school children, MA is first, followed by Utah, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and then Ct at no. 5. With the exception of Utah, all of those states are solidly Democratic, or lean Democratic, which I'm assuming r99 is using as a measure of "wokeness".

The lowest achieving states were Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. With the exception of New Mexico, those are all bright red states, without a trace of so-called wokeness.

Try again.

R101 he’s on every thread using the same terms. He doesn’t even bother to mix it up.

He’d be Johnny One Note but nobody listens.

R81

It makes me so sad to read your comment and it’s startling to learn how students have changed so much in such a short time. It also makes me grateful that my son went to a progressive Episcopal school that really emphasized critical thinking and writing. He graduated from college a year ago and he is an excellent writer - far better than I was in the 80s and even now, to be honest. Anyway, I’m grateful he was ahead of the AI BS.

[quote]My question - her family didn't notice she couldn't read or write during her 12 years in school ?

My question - SHE didn't notice she couldn't read or write during her 12 years in school ?

[quote] Task-based thinkers are not seen as lacking intelligence, but rather as efficient workers in structured systems that require execution rather than original insight.

It’s very worker bee. Why not just replace them with machines?

Is she going to sue her future employers because they didn't realize she couldn't read? She and her parents had twelve years to seek independent resources when she realized she was struggling. Welcome to the real world, baby girl.

r99 is also:

*THEATRE GOSSIP #593: The "Last Summer at Datalounge Cove" Edition*

[quote][quote]So the question now is: Was it unreasonable to expect that kind of performance schedule for all those decades? Or are so many current performers lacking in that they can't or won't keep to such a schedule?

[quote]R19 it's because woke Broadway has adopted socialism, which encourages laziness and equates hard work with capitalism, which they despise with a passion.

[quote]They also equate hard work with the patriarchy, because men are generally more industrious than women, who often make up excuses not to go into work.

[quote]In short, productivity usually goes down when women are hired or in charge.

*NYT article on the SC trans ruling*

[quote]R29 please, trans in women's sports has been an ongoing issue since at least 2018.

[quote]After Biden took office in January 2021, the administration started enforcing trans/nonbinary ideology, altering the language and pretty much every aspect of society for just a minuscule population, and those who objected were cancelled/ostracized. That wasn't going to end well.

[quote]Stop blaming the right for everything and start taking accountability.

I remember the blowback my friend got as a college adjunct when he attempted to flunk a kid from the Congo who had a full ride and zero language comprehension. He couldn't even do take-home assignments, if I recall. My friend was accused of racism and ruining this kid's life.

R108 - after two weeks, it should have been apparent the student from the Congo wasn't ready for his class. He should have made the student drop the class and notified the counselor that the student needed a semester of immersive study in English. Waiting to flunk him at the end of the semester is a dick move. This doesn't mean I think it woman who sued because she was "illiterate" was right.

No, he did spot it early but got blowback because the kid had a B average and a compelling story. The school's tutoring facilities were not equipped to deliver those kind of services. Your supposition that he waited all semester is wrong. He was expected to tutor him himself, which given the language barrier, he did not have the skills to do.

How does one even finish elementary school if they are illiterate?

I can’t imagine a 6th grade child being truly illiterate.

[quote] He was expected to tutor him himself, which given the language barrier, he did not have the skills to do.

And? Then you find someone who can. Your buddy let the guy slip through the cracks.

How the fuck did she get into UConn, that’s what the fuck I want to know. Not surprising she graduated from whatever lil ghetto school district. But how did she get into UConn? So the college admissions department just played in all the reject applicants’ faces. Wow.

North West resembles this student and imagine the same future for North, can't read or write or even speakaduhenglisha.