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Re: Harris’s equity speech, @jessesingal and I disagree on this and here’s why:
Equity sounds like a good thing. It sounds like equality+, and the idea that everyone gets exactly what they need to succeed is a nice vision of the world.
But what equity means in practice is, yes, equality of outcome, as @BretWeinstein & @ConceptualJames argue. Now, as for what this means in practice, let’s look at the Seattle Public Schools’ equity agenda, which I wrote about here: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/12/04/42169178/the-battle-over-seattle-public-schools-gifted-progams-heats-up
The equity agenda was meant to a address a real problem: black kids (boys, specifically) underperforming compared to other demographics.
If you look at, for instance, the SPS gifted program, most of the kids served by this program were white, Asian, and middle class and up. Not all, but most.
This didn’t look good. Schools were segregated, with mostly white and Asian students in some classrooms and mostly black and brown kids in others.
In an effort to fix this—to achieve “equity”—SPS, helmed by Superintendent Denise Juneau, decided to end the gifted program. Instead of tracking kids into different classes, high performing and low performing kids would all be together. There are some benefits to this, but...
It also means teachers could be teaching kids who test a couple grades below standard and a couple grades above standard at the same time. So tracking still exists, it’s just within the classroom, and it’s hard on teachers and students.
Of course, many parents of gifted kids were very opposed to this and argued that instead of dismantling the gifted program, SPS should work harder to bring black and brown students into it using various means.
But that’s not what happened. Instead, SPS decided to dismantle the program, and this is where I think “equity” can actually perpetuate inequity, because what do you think wealthy parents of gifted kids do in situations like this? They take their kids out of public schools.
This is exactly what gifted programs were designed to prevent, and in dismantling this program, SPS basically created another round of white flight, leaving poor gifted kids behind (many of whom, yes, were black and brown).
Of course, then Covid hit and everything got fucked beyond repair anyway, with, of course, poor kids of all races suffering the most.
Anyway, equity is a nice buzzword but pay close attention when people use it. And on the off chance that Denise Juneau (who, is now being targeted by activists for not doing enough) ends up in the Dept of Ed, pay VERY close attention. https://komonews.com/news/local/local-naacp-calls-for-ouster-of-seattle-schools-superintendent-denise-juneau
If I were in charge, I would focus less on getting all kids into college and more on apprenticeships and trades. Not everyone is a scholar and that’s fine. People who don’t excel in school should still be able to make a living. That’s the kind of world I’d like to live in.
And if you want to hear Jesse and I argue about it... join us. https://www.patreon.com/blockedandreported
PS This is not a good reason to vote for Trump.
