WASHINGTON _ Former University of North Carolina learning specialist Mary Willingham, who blew the whistle on a two-decade "paper classes" scheme intended to keep student-athletes at the school eligible, said some of the athletes she worked with were unable to read, yet they were admitted to the university because of their athletic prowess.
"When I went to the University of North Carolina as a learning specialist, I didn't expect to have to teach kids to read," she said. " ... I had athletes who were so unprepared for the course work, they were working on reading _ reading letters and sounds. They didn't know. They were just passed along and we took them in the front door of the institution and promised them, in exchange for their talent, that we were going to provide them with a world-class education.
"Does it sound possible?"
