Woke school administrators are waging war on excellence and achievement in the name of pursuing “equity” for all. Multiple California districts are shining examples of how this misguided effort may backfire as students and parents rise up in protest.
Santa Monica High School is part of a prestigious academic system that unfortunately fell victim to the equity trend gripping some of the nation’s best schools.
In other words, to create "equity" (which is impossible) LA school is dumbing down the classes
As part of an effort to increase "equity," a Los Angeles-area high school has eliminated honors English courses for ninth- and 10th-grade students. https://t.co/rH6E4rwWHc via @reason— Jerry (@jaljr) February 22, 2023
In order to equalize the student body, administrators decided to eliminate honors English classes for freshmen and sophomores. District leaders worked well over a year to implement this initiative, and their explanations for the effort are telling.
English teacher Sarah Rodriguez explained the goal for eliminating honors English is to be fair to all and avoid having any students feel rejected or marginalized.
Rodriguez declared, “What we’re doing is, we’re saying this is a new paradigm.” The system now emphasizes that “all of our students (are) capable and we’re going to meet them where they are.”
Parents, of course, are up in arms over the dumbing down of their children’s education. Unfortunately, Santa Monica High School is far from the only example of this misguided progressivism.
Culver City Unified School District, which is in the Los Angeles area, earlier this year replaced honors classes with generic offerings to promote racial equity. Administrators complained that not enough Black and Latino students were pursuing courses with more rigorous lessons.
A mom told the school board that her child found the new classes too easy and that “I want my child to be challenged.” Her student explained that the easy coursework was offered due to “equity.”
The mother said she and her family are immigrants, and “we came to this country to have a better life, a better education, to get out of poverty.” That, she said, is why they chose to locate in Culver City.
But beginning last fall, the choice between taking a grade level class or an honors class was removed. In its stead is now a one-size-fits-all course that administrators claim keeps everyone on the same playing field.
Never mind that taking the regular or honors courses as a freshman or sophomore was voluntary.
Parents protested being left out of the decision-making process on the road to so-called “equity.” Their most precious resource — their children — are being denied the opportunity to pursue a higher-quality education all in the name of achieving an equal outcome for everyone.
And that is a race to the bottom.
