Tuesday, May 10, 2022

"Equity" Has Nothing To Do With Excellence

Never has, never will:

Barrington, Rhode Island, public schools are among the best in the state. Many parents move to the district, and tolerate the higher taxes, because of the academic rigor that sets their children up for attending Ivy League schools or receiving academic merit scholarships. However, all of that academic appeal is being chipped away after the district brought in a so-called "equity and inclusion" agenda. 

De-leveling, or a system of universal learning, was first implemented in Barrington on the most vulnerable students—the students with learning disabilities and Individualized Education Programs (IEP). In February 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school removed some conceptual classes. On the whole, parents of children in those classes were reluctant to speak out because they ran the risk of "outing" their child as having a disability or needing special accommodation...

Rage broke loose among parents of all political stripes after the honors students were targeted, parents said. The school announced that the days of honors English and social studies were gone. Parents protested, arguing that the move deprived their children of a competitive edge – and in effect – future opportunities such as merit scholarships...

Bill Jacobson, a long-time Barrington resident and founder of Legal Insurrection, said, "De-leveling is part of an agenda of equalizing outcomes. This equal-results approach stems from critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion, which posit that unequal outcomes are the result of systemic bias and discrimination. ‘Equity’ in particular is the codeword for bringing high achievers down to equalize outcomes," Jacobson said. "'Equity' has become an unhealthy obsession, and parents are seeing the impact."

They've given up trying to raise certain students to high standards, so instead they want to lower the rest of the students to lower standards.  "Equity" is the rhetoric of jealousy and failure.

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