Retired Teacher Reveals He Was Illiterate Until Age 48
Our schools are absolutely horrible. This guy cheated his way through high-school, graduated college, and taught for 17 years and never even learned how to read.
OCEANSIDE, Calif. – John Corcoran graduated from college and taught high school for 17 years without being able to read, write or spell.
Corcoran’s life of secrecy started at a young age. He said his teachers moved him up from grade to grade. Often placed in what he calls the “dumb row,” the images of his tribulations in the classroom are still vividly clear.
“I can remember when I was eight years old saying my prayers at night saying, ‘please, God, tomorrow when it’s my turn to read please let me read.’ You just pretend that you are invisible and when the teacher says, ‘Johnnie read,’ you just wait the teacher out because you know the teacher has to go away at some point,” said Corcoran.
Corcoran eventually started acting up to hide his illiteracy. From fifth through seventh grade he was expelled, suspended and spent most of his days at the principal’s office.
The former teacher said he came from a loving family that always supported him.
“My parents came to school and it no longer was a problem for me reading because this boy Johnnie — the native alien, I call him — he didn’t have a reading problem as far as the teachers were concerned. He had an emotional problem. He had a psychological problem. He had a behavioral problem,” said Corcoran.
Corcoran later attended Palo Verde High School in Blythe, Calif. He cheated his way through high school, receiving his diploma in June 1956.
“When I was a child I was just sort of just moved along. When I got to high school I wanted to participate in athletics. At that time in high school I went underground. I decided to behave myself and do what it took. I started cheating by turning in other peoples’ paper, dated the valedictorian and ran around with college prep kids,” said Corcoran.
“I couldn’t read words but I could read the system and I could read people,” adds Corcoran.
He stole tests and persuaded friends to complete his assignments. Corcoran earned an athletic scholarship to Texas Western College. He said his cheating intensified, claiming he cheated in every class.
“I passed a bluebook out the window to a friend I painstakingly copied four essay questions off the board in U.S. government class that was required, and hoped my friend would get it back to me with the right answers,” Corcoran said.
In 1961, Corcoran graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education, while still illiterate he contends. He then went on to become a teacher during a teacher shortage.
“When I graduated from the university, the school district in El Paso, where I went to school, gave almost all the college education graduates a job,” said Corcoran.
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