This college student says she can't read or write. Now she's suing.

A young college student is now suing her old school district in Connecticut after she graduated with honors even though she supposedly cannot read or write.

Aleysha Ortiz, 19, has filed a lawsuit against the Hartford Board of Education and the city of Hartford for alleged negligence after she spent 12 years in the district but apparently never learned these essential skills. The lawsuit claims Ortiz began manifesting problems with "letter, sound, and number recognition" as early as first grade and could not read at a first-grade level until she was in sixth grade but was swept along through the system anyway.

"They would just either tell me to stay in a corner and sleep or just draw pictures, flowers for them," she told CNN about her early education.

Ortiz also claimed that her struggles with schoolwork caused her to act out in class. "I was the bad child," she admitted.

"Sometimes I would feel proud to be the bad child because at least I was something to them and I wasn’t invisible."

'We have a powerful community that wants to do better.'

Ortiz, a native of Puerto Rico, said that her mother, Carmen Cruz, tried to alert school officials to her daughter's problems but had difficulty communicating herself because of a language barrier. "I didn’t know English very well. I didn’t know the rules of the schools," Cruz claimed.

By her sophomore year at Hartford High School, Ortiz was assigned a special education teacher and case manager, Tilda Santiago. However, according to the lawsuit, Santiago bullied and even stalked Ortiz and was eventually removed from her case.

The following year, Ortiz became more outspoken about her struggles, and teachers suggested that she be tested for dyslexia. Unfortunately, the testing was not completed until the final day of her senior year. She was ultimately determined to be dyslexic and required "explicitly taught phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension." School officials offered Ortiz a deferred diploma to receive additional services.

"All I see is words everywhere," she said.

"I know we can do better, and I know we have a powerful community that wants to do better."

In May, Ortiz addressed the city council about her experiences with illiteracy. Nevertheless, she graduated from Hartford Public Schools with honors just weeks later.

She also earned scholarships to attend the University of Connecticut, where she is currently enrolled full-time but not attending classes due to mental health concerns. Ortiz claimed she managed to complete her college coursework through talk-to-text and other such apps, stating they gave her the "voice" she didn't know she had.

Newsweek noted that SAT results are not required for admission into UConn, which uses a "holistic approach" and mainly considers GPA, class rank, essays, and extracurricular activities on applications. According to its website, the university identifies "intellectually curious, highly motivated, and academically accomplished individuals of strong moral character" so as to build "a diverse student body" as part of a wider "inclusive community."

In response to the lawsuit, the district said: "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."

Ortiz, who is interested in studying public policy and becoming a writer someday, said the efforts of her former district aren't good enough.

"They had 12 years," she told CNN. "Now it’s my time."

'In this system, failing students are socially promoted to the next grade without mastering even the most basic skills.'

Leaders of the Yankee Institute, a Connecticut watchdog group, believe public schools in their state have failed to deliver a quality education to all students as promised.

"This horrifying circumstance highlights the fact that Connecticut really has a two-tier education system. It’s excellent for affluent students who live in high-performing school districts — or those with the resources to be able to afford educational access and opportunity. Low-income students, however, are effectively told by our state: 'You'll take what we give you and like it,'" Carol Platt Liebau, Yankee Institute president, told Blaze News.

"Connecticut lawmakers have the chance to pass Opportunity Scholarships and give low-income students a real shot at success. But too many leaders are clinging to a broken system that has failed our most marginalized communities," added Timothy Anop, director of external affairs.

"Teacher unions, in collaboration with complicit superintendents, have social-engineered a system where students begin with a grade of 50 instead of a zero — undermining the value of hard work and homework. In this system, failing students are socially promoted to the next grade without mastering even the most basic skills, perpetuating a cycle of mediocrity," claimed Frank Ricci, a Yankee Institute fellow.

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