A student is bright. Her eyes, her keen understanding and her activities demonstrate that she needs more than what seems to be out there for her. She is also the youngest of the class: she is nine years old. Teacher understands the problem and is able to provide the necessary stimulation for Maria B., this is her name. Maria has achieved several goals without any problem and she is always ready for more. She is the leader of a science project which ends up being televised. She enters in the drama competition of the Yale Dramat and her play is chosen to be first place in the city. Maria is in a bilingual class, and she has been chosen from over one hundred entries in English. Maria manages very successfully with her tasks and obligations. But there comes the time when Maria has to go to the sixth grade and say good bye to her accomplishments. Everyone tells Maria and her family that the schools around the area are not good for her. Her family moves to a close-by town out of New Haven and is able to survive there making the Honor Roll and so on, in spite of resistance by students because she is a Puerto Rican.
At the end of the sixth grade Maria and her family are forced to come back to the city due to limited economic resources. Maria enters a Public School. In the beginning she is getting high grades, but little by little her academic standing goes down, and Maria starts to fail in all subjects. Maria starts to show signs of violence and extreme defiance against all authority and her mother at home. She tries to kill a student and also attempts suicide. She is sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. She is usually in a straight jacket and often has to be forcibly restrained. Doctors, DCYS, Yale Child Study Center, social workers, tutors, they all agree that Maria needs a “better” school; they hope that she would be successful again if proper care is given to a specially tailored education. What are the rights of this young student? What is she faced against? Who is to be held responsible for this demise of this otherwise great success story?
