Illiterate students suing schools signals 'much bigger problem': Cornell Law professor
Cornell Law School Professor William A. Jacobson, director of the Securities Law Clinic, told Fox News Digital lawsuits filed by illiterate students against school districts signify a "much deeper problem" with the American public school system.
Two high school graduates who say they can't read or write are suing their respective public school systems, arguing they were not given the free public education to which they are entitled.
Cornell Law School Professor William A. Jacobson, director of the Securities Law Clinic, told Fox News Digital the lawsuits signify a "much deeper problem" with the American public school system.
"I think these cases reflect a deeper problem in education. For each of these cases, there are probably tens of thousands of students who never got a proper education — they get pushed along the system," Jacobson said. "Unfortunately … we've created incentives, particularly for public school systems, to just push students along and not to hold them accountable."
President Donald Trump has railed against the Department of Education for "failing American students," a White House fact sheet published Thursday reads. The administration has suggested plans to eliminate the Department altogether, directing education authority to individual states.
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"Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades," the White House said in a fact sheet published Thursday. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
"Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion with virtually nothing to show for it," the fact sheet reads. "Despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% over that period, there has been virtually no measurable improvement in student achievement: Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades. … Seven-in-ten fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading, while 40% of fourth grade students don’t even meet basic reading levels."
Tennessee lawsuit
An appellate court judge recently sided with Tennessee student William A., ruling that the student was denied the free public education to which he is entitled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
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A Clarksville, Tennessee, student is arguing in a lawsuit that he was denied a free public education because he was never taught how to read or write with dyslexia. (iStock)
"William graduated from high school without being able to read or even to spell his own name," Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote in his judgment. "That was because, per the terms of his IEPs, he relied on a host of accommodations that masked his inability to read."
To write a paper, William would speak the topic into a speech-to-text software and paste the words into an AI app like Chat-GPT, which would then "generate a paper on that topic," Kethledge explained. William would then paste that text back into his own document and "run that paper through another software program like Grammarly, so that it reflected an appropriate writing style."
William A. used artificial intelligence (AI) apps like Chat-GPT to complete his classwork. (iStock)
William, who has severe dyslexia, went through 12 years of public education with an individualized education program (IEP), never learned to read or write, and still graduated with a 3.4 GPA, according to court documents.
"This kid can't read."
When William was in 9th grade in 2020, a special education teacher asked a school psychologist to "[p]lease take a look at William [A]. I am very concerned."
The teacher stated: "this kid can’t read," according to the suit.
An aerial view of downtown Clarksville, Tenn. (iStock)
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) in Tennessee, "knowing he cannot read, passed him right along, creating an artificial GPA of 3.41 by the end of eleventh grade putting William on a path to regular education diploma, even though he lacked basic reading skills," the original complaint reads.
CMCSS told Fox News Digital it does not comment on pending litigation.
"By March 2023, William could not consistently spell his own first and last name while signing his IEP. And in June 2023, William’s own writing sample illustrated he was unable to write more than 31 words in three minutes. He misspelled half the words, all of which were Kindergarten level sight words he had memorized," the lawsuit reads.
Connecticut lawsuit
In a similar lawsuit out of Connecticut, a high school graduate named Aleysha Ortiz argues similarly that she went through years of public education in Hartford County with a learning disability and IEP without ever being taught how to read or write.
"I think these cases reflect a deeper problem in education," Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson said. (iStock)
Ortiz not only graduated with honors, but she was also admitted into the University of Connecticut, according to the complaint.
Ortiz argues in her complaint that while her reading and writing skills were not properly addressed, she presented "younger than her age socially and emotionally" and was subjected to bullying.
Aleysha Ortiz filed a lawsuit against the Hartford County Board of Education in December 2024. (iStock)
Like William, Ortiz began using "assistive technology to help her read and write, and advocated for herself tirelessly in school," the complaint states.
"She told them that she was concerned that she was not prepared for college…"
"In May 2024, the Plaintiff reported to her case manager and PPT that she had been accepted and planned to attend the University of Connecticut after graduation," the complaint states. "She told them that she was concerned that she was not prepared for college and would not be able to obtain the accommodations she would need in college to be successful due to the Board’s refusal to permit proper testing."
"Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion with virtually nothing to show for it," according to a White House fact sheet. (In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
Ortiz was concerned that her elementary-level reading and writing skills would "impact her ability to be successful in college," but "[t]t wasn’t until approximately one month before graduation that the [Hartford Board of Education] agreed to conduct additional testing that the Plaintiff had been asking for."
The Hartford Board of Education told Fox News Digital that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Hartford Public Schools also does not comment on pending litigation, but the school system told Fox News Digital in a statement that it remains "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."
The "deeper problem"
Jacobson told Fox News Digital that "in fairness" to teachers and school districts, they are "caught between various forces pushing against each other."
"On the one hand, there's oftentimes money tied to performance. And if you fail students, if you don't advance them, that could affect the funding that the school district gets," he explained. "There are individual students who have parents who … want them not to fail. And so there's a lot of pressure there."
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Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson said the two lawsuits underscore a larger problem with the American public education system. (iStock)
An increasing number of public school students have IEPs, meaning more students have individualized learning programs that teachers, who are already overwhelmed by national employee shortages, must accommodate by law.
"This is a real problem, and it's a failure at its core of our educational system."
"Obviously, it varies district to district," Jacobson said. "Some have perfectly good intentions. Some have maybe not good intentions and just want to go along to get along."
The Cornell Law professor added that while he does not see AI going anywhere in the future of education, "we've got to be very firm that AI does not end up actually dumbing down the students rather than informing the students, because you can become very dependent on it, and that's another problem, but it's one we can't ignore."
Students in a classroom working on their laptops. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)
Additionally, Jacobson said, parents should be more focused on helping their children to read and write.
"I think parents would be better focused on helping their students and their children learn, rather than worrying about the next lawsuit," he said. "I realize that might be a little unrealistic, because we are in a culture of trying to cash in on lawsuits, but I think our energy should be focused on fixing the system and getting students properly treated, as opposed to: how are we going to sue the school district?"
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Justin Gilbert, the attorney representing William A., told Fox News Digital that "[w]ith up to 20% of the students in the United States having dyslexia, William’s case reinforces the need for dyslexia-trained teachers."
"Most of us take reading for granted, but once we move outside the ‘reading window’ of the elementary school years, learning to read becomes much harder," Gilbert said. "That’s particularly true for students with dyslexia. William’s case is a reminder, though a tragic one, of the need for greater awareness of dyslexia in the public schools."
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