The future fights

CCSD is far from the only locality to overhaul education policy for the stated purpose of promoting racial equity. Cities and states across the country have been revamping classes, grading and school admission policies for K-12 students, largely to address persistent racial inequalities. New York, the largest city in the country, has been the center of this controversy. Democratic Mayor Bill De Blasio has pushed for the dropping of these admission tests, and the elimination of Gifted and Talented programs in general, contending that these policies are a crucial way of reducing racial segregation. 

New York’s elite specialized high schools require the passing of an entrance exam for admission. Disparities in these test scores are the primary cause of racial discrepancies. Black and Hispanics make up almost two-thirds of NYC public school students, while they’re less than 10% of the attendees at these preparatory schools. This year, only eight students were accepted to New York’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School.

“I honestly believe relaxing admission requirements is beneficial,” senior Franchesca Ramirez said. “It promotes racial equality because many minorities are not offered an equal education from the start, and giving them a chance to receive an education that they probably would never get the chance to have in their area is a better solution than nothing.”

Contrarily, many argue that these preparatory schools are a lifeline for working-class students who have no other avenue to get into a successful college. Eric Adams, the almost-certain next mayor of the city, has broken from de Blasio on the issue, saying that eliminating the Gifted and Talented program goes too far and he would instead “expand the opportunities for accelerated learning.”

“I don’t necessarily see this issue split on partisan lines, at least in New York City, which is an overwhelmingly Democratic city,” New York Times reporter Eliza Shapiro told the Shadow. “For example, many middle class Black and Latino families who tend to vote Democratic support the programs because they see them as necessary alternatives to struggling neighborhood schools.”

Asian-American students, who score the highest on these tests, are especially vulnerable to policies that would undermine the current admissions requirements. Asians are a significantly higher share of these schools than they are the city’s population, despite having a higher poverty rate than any other race in the city. 

“I believe that laxxing admission requirements for selective schools is unfair to those who work hard to get in,” senior Jacob de Leon said. “If a student who doesn’t work hard for anything in their lives gets in, then I believe it’s undeserving for them to claim a seat in the school rather than giving it to a student who actually wants to pursue a better education.”

Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia is also dropping grade and testing requirements for admission. This decision attracted national attention because the move for more accurate racial representation would directly lead to a substantial drop in the share of students who are Asian, and a significant increase in the share that is white. 

“Advocates for racial diversity seem to forget that any education policy promoting applicants of one race will by necessity end up discriminating against applicants of another race,” Robby Soave, senior editor of the libertarian Reason Magazine, told us regarding the Thomas Jefferson decision. “I can’t imagine it’s good for student morale if many people on campus come to suspect that they were chosen to fill some racial quota, or represent some stereotype.”

CCSD is following in the footsteps of these other school districts, particularly New York, and is seeking to try and compensate for a percieved racial bias in education. Reforms such as the 50% or laxxing admission requirements are being designed for the express purpose of helping minority students. 

These fights – just like the current one in CCSD – are representative of a broader national battle between two competing forces: progressives who argue for upending education policy and curriculum to promote greater equity, and more moderate forces who think these policy changes punish hard-working students. California, for example, has pushed for straying away from differentiating students by math class difficulty until their junior year of high school. High schools in Montgomery County, Maryland have implemented this policy for English and other classes. Seattle is no longer providing honors classes to middle school students. And of course, several localities have adopted the minimum 50% policies, like CCSD.

“I definitely think we’re becoming more progressive and open-minded when it comes to our grading curriculum, and by doing so we’re opening up a lot more opportunity for children with household or personal circumstances that may be holding them back,” junior Alyssa Carmella said.

Proponents against the 50% policies argue that its implementation is detrimental to the ideals of hard work, and fail to adequately prepare students for the future. Particularly conservative leaning opponents argue that the grading system is bigoted towards students by treating them as if they were incapable. 

“It reflects this soft bigotry of low expectations around student effort and student behavior,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Fordham Institute, “Is it because we think certain groups of kids aren’t capable of them?”

Clark County’s assortment of educational reforms are an effort to fix inequalities that liberals have pointed to for decades across the country. The decision to disentangle citizenship from class grades, for example, was made after years of progressives noting that Black students tend to be unfairly targeted and punished by teachers relative to white students. The San Diego Unified School District has also outlawed reducing points from students for late-work, citing vast racial discrepancies in the number of students who received failing grades. The decision, just like CCSD’s, drew praise from those arguing that it was an important step toward rectifying racial injustices, and condemnation from those who argued it would discourage hard work.

“While the policies themselves are helpful and fair, the motivation behind them needs to be in the best interest of the students,” senior Mackenzie Rankin said. “Perhaps more focus can be put on how to eliminate late work in the first place, not just how to mask it for a school’s reputation.”

It’s unclear how significant the effects of these changes around the country will be. Both proponents and critics are largely speculating on what kinds of impacts grade and testing reforms will happen. What should matter now is conducting more research, and listening to the lived experiences of staff and students to ensure we have the best, most effective policies for everyone involved

“I think the greatest thing about education is [that] no student is the same,” Carmella said. “The sooner we are able to facilitate our students and use their unique histories to uplift their learning experiments, the sooner we will see a permanent change for the better in not only CCSD, but the education system as a whole.”