Presiding Over Educational Collapse: The Status Quo Won’t Survive

Any serious discussion of Trump’s education reform efforts has to acknowledge the disaster that preceded them.

Public education in America has faced a steady decline, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its collapse.

School closures, disproportionately prolonged in Democratic-led states, had devastating consequences — especially for disadvantaged students. Many have not fully recovered from the lost classroom time, and now, a new legal battle underscores the system’s failure.

Aleysha Ortiz, a 19-year-old honors graduate from Hartford Public High School in Connecticut, is now suing her school district for negligence. Despite receiving academic accolades, she alleges she cannot read. Her case has sparked a national debate about accountability in education, raising questions about how students can graduate without mastering basic literacy.

This Isn’t a New Problem

While Ortiz’s case is gaining attention now, similar issues have been raised before. In 2000, Williams v. California resulted in a settlement mandating improvements to school facilities, teacher quality, and instructional materials after a class-action lawsuit exposed severe deficiencies in the state’s education system.