Philly charter school says student’s viral ‘Can You Read’ video was ‘misleading and unfair’
One video of Preparatory Charter High School students was viewed more than 15 million times on TikTok.
A South Philadelphia charter school said Sunday that a student’s widely viewed videos showing classmates struggling to read certain words did not accurately reflect the school’s community.
Preparatory Charter High School, which enrolls students in grades 9 through 12, also said it was not seeking to expel the student who made the videos, contrary to posts circulating on social media.
The controversy arose after a video was posted on TikTok and Instagram last week titled, “Can You Read?” The video portrays several students in Prep Charter uniforms struggling to read words in the sentence: “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”
The video was viewed than 15 million times on TikTok.
The account that posted the video, @whatthevek, did not respond to an interview request Sunday. The account last week also posted a “Can You Read Pt. 2″ video that was viewed more than 2 million times on TikTok, depicting students reading the sentence: “The colonel asked the choir to accommodate the governor’s schedule.”
The footage drew media attention, and widely circulated social media posts claimed that the student who made the videos was facing expulsion.
On Sunday, Prep Charter’s administration said in a statement that while federal privacy rules barred the school from discussing details of disciplinary action, “the student in question is not facing expulsion.”
The school said the video footage “does not accurately reflect our school community or the values we strive to uphold every day.”
“While some students may have agreed to be filmed, the way the footage was presented lacks important context and has led to a portrayal that is misleading and unfair,” the school said in the statement. “The video titled ‘Can You Read?’ does not represent the character, effort, or abilities of our students as a whole.”
Prep Charter enrolls about 600 students, more than 70% of whom are economically disadvantaged, according to state data.
On Pennsylvania state assessments in the 2024-25 school year, 46.5% of students scored proficient in English language arts, compared to nearly 50% statewide.
