In 2024, Aleysha Ortiz graduated with honors from Hartford Public High School in Connecticut and was accepted into UConn as a freshman. She grew up as a first-generation English speaker after immigrating as a child with her parents from Puerto Rico – a shining example of the American Dream. But there is a major problem: Aleysha is illiterate. Her college life is on hold, and she is suing the Hartford Board of Education, the City of Hartford, and her special education case manager, Tilda Santiago, for negligence.
Aleysha Ortiz’s attorney, Anthony Spinella, told the CTMirror: “We’re not suing for any services. We’re not suing for their inability to teach her basic skills. We’re suing for the emotional damage that was caused when [Ortiz] went through the processes of trying to get [the district] to help her and how she was treated by some…
