As students return to school amidst the ongoing disruptions and dislocations of COVID-19, public officials should be focused on providing students the high-quality instruction and support they need to get up to speed. Unfortunately, some officials seem more intent on excusing inadequate instruction. This summer, Kate Brown, governor of Oregon, a law repealing the state鈥檚 requirement that high school graduates be able to demonstrate an ability to read, write, and do math at a high school level. A spokesman for Brown explained that the state needed 鈥渆quitable graduation standards,鈥� ones which would benefit 鈥淥regon鈥檚 Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.鈥�
Well. I have trouble thinking of an educational policy more threatening to any state鈥檚 鈥淏lack, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color鈥� than the suggestion that it鈥檚 fine for them to graduate without being able to read. It seems patently offensive to suggest that expecting high school grads to be literate and numerate is racially suspect, or that we should abandon such expectations when it comes to minority students.
The threat of such a policy is especially severe against the backdrop of the pandemic, a time when low-income and minority students have been hit by a year and a half of haphazard remote learning, stop-and-start schooling, and socially distanced interaction. If students are to recover from the staggering disruptions of the pandemic, schools need to buckle down to engage and educate kids鈥攏ot lower (or eliminate) expectations in the name of 鈥渆quity.鈥�
And yet we鈥檝e seen a growing conviction in portions of the American left that the fight for 鈥渆quity鈥� is less about concerted efforts to help students catch up and excel than a destructive crusade against the very idea of expectations and excellence. This nihilistic notion of equity fueled California鈥檚 move to and the Oregon education department鈥檚 that teachers 鈥渞acist鈥� math practices like asking students to 鈥渟how their work鈥� or worry about 鈥済etting the 鈥榬ight answer.鈥欌�� It even prompted the National Geographic Society to discontinue its 33-year-old, iconic 鈥淕eoBee鈥� competition, to the organization鈥檚 鈥渋ncreased focus on racial justice.鈥�
What鈥檚 going on? To be blunt, too many grownups have thrown in the towel. Indeed, many of the same advocates, officials, and foundation executives who just a few years ago cheered Common Core and Obama鈥檚 Race to the Top for their commitment to 鈥渞igor鈥� now nod along when the leading lights of anti-racism insist that expectations are nothing more than tools of systemic racism. Now, I鈥檓 well aware that plenty of parents and educators are troubled by this nihilistic notion of equity鈥攂ut I鈥檝e also heard from many who are hesitant to say that out loud, for fear of being tagged as 鈥渞acist.鈥�
This development marks a troubling break with the recent past when right and left agreed about the perils of the 鈥渟oft bigotry of low expectations.鈥� While regular readers know that I found the sweeping, bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act born of that consensus to be a mess, its spirit represented a powerful, shared conviction that every student should (at least!) learn how to proficiently read, write, and do math, and that we must reject those who would set different expectations for students based on their color or creed鈥攚hether fueled by bigotry or misplaced benevolence.
Now, in 2021, Oregon鈥檚 Democratic leaders are telling high schools to cut kids loose, whether or not they鈥檝e learned the things high school grads need to know. Worse, they鈥檙e claiming they鈥檙e doing these students a favor鈥攅ven as they condemn barely literate 18-year-olds to dead-end jobs and civic disempowerment. And these officials are far from alone.
The frustrating thing is that most reasonable people鈥攔ight and left鈥攗nderstand the perils in all this. When pollsters ask adults about the primary purpose of education, that it鈥檚 mastery of 鈥渃ore academic subjects鈥� for students in K-12 and mastering 鈥渟kills for future employment鈥� in high school. High school grads need to master certain skills, and schools and states should be ensuring that they do.
That鈥檚 my take. If that brands me as an opponent of 鈥渆quity鈥� in 2021, then we鈥檝e got a problem. After all, I just don鈥檛 know many educators or public officials鈥攏o matter how committed to equity鈥攚ho really want to spend their time excusing illiteracy, innumeracy, and ignorance.
