Just about anyone who has heard the term “equity” likely knows that, in theory, it’s a good thing, right? I mean, like equality, its use and implementation are supposed to bring about equal opportunities for all, equal freedoms, and better lives for all.
However, what far too many don’t understand is that equity, like socialism, isn’t really about making all lives better. Sure, it makes them all the same. But it most certainly does not give people the greatest chance to succeed, as this meme explains.
Want to see it in action?
Well, let’s travel to Virginia, where one high school has decided that if every student doesn’t receive an academic honors award, then none of them do.
Welcome to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.
Here, parents and the community alike became incensed when they learned that their well-deserving and hard-working students had been denied or not notified about receiving a national academic honor just because not all of their peers had performed as well. And by the time students were told, the deadline for early college applications had already passed.
If you know much about these honors, you will know that they are given and awarded weeks ahead of these college deadlines so that applications can include the awards and colleges have the most up-to-date information about all applicants.
However, Thomas Jefferson High School decided that if one child couldn’t boost their college applications with such awards, then none of them could. Weeks after the deadlines, students deserving of the awards had the notifications of such dropped on their desks like a paper that had just been graded.
Naturally, parents in the area are raising a big stink about the situation.
Fairfax County parent Asra Nomani has been one of the most vocal. Since the incident, she has appeared on both Fox News and CNN to raise awareness for what she calls the “dumbing down of America.”
As she told Fox, our students are our future. They are the ones who will be our next scientists, our next congressmen, and women, our next leaders. And yet, because of equity, many of those children’s accomplishments, skills, and merits are literally being ignored.
In fact, Nomani calls this agenda that seems to be sweeping across the schools of the US the “war on merit.” And this is not the first time she’s fought against it. Her YouTube page is full of articles and videos surrounding the topic.
One such post exposes yet another Thomas Jefferson High School policy known as “zero zeroes.”
According to the school, the lowest grade a student can get in any class is a 50 percent, just for being enrolled. Essentially, it’s a participation trophy in its rawest form. Sure, it’s not a passing grade, but it’s pretty damn close.
Meanwhile, students who are acing the classes and should be enrolled in academic honors classes are denied such opportunities to grow and excel. The school has also decided that since not all students can succeed in high-achieving courses, they simply won’t be offered. In fact, calculus isn’t even available for high schoolers.
Remember, this is a science and technology-focused high school, and yet it doesn’t offer calculus because not all of its students could take it and do well.
Equity at its finest, huh?
As Nomani says, “The school wanted to recognize students as individuals, not their achievements, as if the two had to be separated.”
I mean, since when did personal accomplishments become a bad thing? Since when does it make sense to hurt and punish those who can succeed because others simply aren’t?
But that’s exactly what schools like Thomas Jefferson High School are teaching our youth.
Thankfully, parents like Nomani and many others are standing up and making waves about this type of agenda.
It is important to note that thanks to these parents, the school district has stepped in and ensured that colleges are still getting notified about the honors that weren’t handed out on time. They have also promised to inquire further about why this happened. They have not offered an apology yet, though.
