After a hard of hearing special education student first came forward about receiving a diploma from Leigh High School in San Jose, Calif. even though he only reads at a grade school level, three more students in his program are speaking up.
They told NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit they are being passed through high school by the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE), which runs the South Bay Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, while still struggling with basic reading and math.
Twins Leah and Mina Poritz said their class of students had a substitute teacher for two years, and they could not learn from him because he did not know sign language.
“Having no teacher is like no support, no education,” Leah said.
With the substitute she said she was often forced to interpret, and it compromised her education.
“It wasn’t fair because we are not interpreters. We are students who want to learn,” she said.
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According to federal law, students with disabilities are supposed to receive free, appropriate public education from birth to age 21.
Ibrahim Barrie was the first student to come forward to NBC Bay Area in December. Despite his learning challenges and documented protests from his mother, SCCOE said he earned his diploma last school year. And, since he graduated with a diploma, the county said Ibrahim is not eligible for free post-high school, vocational education covered by SCCOE.
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Rodi Flores said he experienced the same thing. Additional work training, he said, is critical when college isn’t an option. Both young men said they’ve been stuck at home for months unable to find work, and their sign language skills are regressing.
In Rodi’s case, his mother signed his IEP, or independent education plan, his senior year agreeing to let SCCOE give him a diploma. She said she was concerned about his education level but did not know her signature would disqualify her son from post-high school education.
“I signed the IEP thinking they knew what was good for him,” she said tearfully. “I think I let my kid down [by signing the IEP] and not understanding what I was signing.”
The Santa Clara County Office of Education sent the Investigative Unit a statement saying it is “collaborating with families to ensure the young adults receive the support they did.”
SCCOE would not answer our news team’s direct questions about the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students saying, for two years, they had a teacher who did not know sign language and was not credentialed to teach them.
Last March at a board meeting, SCCOE’s Special Education Director Jennifer Ann acknowledged staffing issues with interpreters.
“This is a huge focus and why we’re so dedicated to staffing because we do want our students to have what they need. The students, staff and parents have been the most crucial in educating me in my role in how this is a critical need,” she said addressing SCCOE’s Board of Trustees and Leah and Mina who shared these concerns at the board meeting.
“We’re not the only program facing this need but that doesn’t mean we’re not tackling it at every angle we can so our students have access,” Ann said. “We do know we have room to grow and things to work out, and we’re very dedicated to that work.”
Rodi, Ibrahim, Leah and Mina wonder how they and other DHOH students are supposed to succeed in school and learn for their future when their school system does not have some of the most basic resources to teach them.
“In California we're not providing the structure and the funding necessary to implement a lot of our aggressive goals,” said Troy Flint, spokesman of the California School Boards Association representing school districts and offices of education across the state.
According to Flint, the problem with Special Education resources in California public schools comes down to the federal government failing on its promise decades ago. Specifically, the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“The promise at that time was the federal government would play for 40% of these local expenses. In reality, in California, the federal government contribution is funding maybe about 8%,” Flint said.
The Investigative Unit reached out to the U.S. Department of Education. A spokesperson said funding is set by Congress.
With the finger pointing, budget shortfalls and silence from some local leaders, these students said they are paying the price.
“We should not be at a third-grade level in high school,” Mina said at a March 2024 SCCOE board meeting.
“I am stressed about my future and depressed,” Ibrahim told board trustees last September.
At a board meeting last week, Ibrahim and Rodi said their cases with SCCOE seem to be moving forward. They are hopeful, under the county office’s new interim superintendent, they’ll reach a resolution.
Twins Leah and Mina are now in private college. For the first time, they are learning what they should have learned in high school, they said.
“I thought I can't do it until I entered college. I'm like, ‘I'm able to learn math and English,’ and that is special!” Leah told NBC Bay Area.
However, they still worry about their classmates and the future SCCOE DHOH students who don’t have the opportunity to go to college.
“We have to fight this because we knew this is not right,” Mina said.
Watch our first report on this issue with Santa Clara County Office of Education:
Part 1: Special Ed student ‘earns' diploma despite reading issues, then denied services
Candice Nguyen is the investigative reporter on this story. If you have a comment about this report or a tip for another story, email her at candice.nguyen@nbcuni.com.
