Of course she can't read

Recently a family has been in the news for their disappointment with their child’s education in the Hartford Public Schools, especially her lack of preparation for higher education. And as a 21-year veteran teacher in Hartford Public Schools, I am incredibly saddened by this harsh reality, but unfortunately not surprised.

Of course she can’t read.

Tiffany Moyer Washington

Over the past seven years, policies for Hartford Public Schools have widened the gaps through which our most vulnerable students can slip through.

Graduation attendance requirements have fallen by the wayside, along with truancy officers and attendance compliance officers to ensure our students attend school regularly. Without accountability and support, some of our students miss hundreds of days of school, falling further and further behind.

The understaffing of special education teachers and paraprofessionals has had a detrimental and irreversible impact on our special needs student population. Many special education teachers have more than 80 students on their caseload, resulting in nearly 1,000 hours of essential services.

In addition, our multilingual teachers have had a huge influx of students with varying levels of English proficiency speaking hundreds of languages. Their efforts to serve these students have led many to leave the district for others with greater resources and support – once again leaving our students without the necessary tools to succeed.

The district passing standard has also increased over the past seven years, with the increase to a district minimum of 50 for all failing grades – meaning a student could only pass one quarter and never return to school and still pass the class ‘ has.

The increase in social promotion, as opposed to retaining students who have not mastered the right skills or content knowledge, has saturated the upper grades with students who are five, six, or seven years below grade level.