Equity in schools

The word equity is creeping into the schools, equity meaning equal results. For many years there has been and is a achievement gap between white students and students of color. Educators have tried many ways to narrow the gap but to no avail. The gap exist in reading and math as measured by test scores. Graduation rates can no longer be used to measure success since many who graduate cannot read. This happens because students who are not learning are allowed to go to separate classrooms and as long as the come to school they will graduate. Studies show that keeping students in school until age 18 reduces the chances of them ending up in jail. Better to spend $15,000 per year in school instead of $30,000 per year in jail, not to mention the negative effects of jail time. If the goal of equity is to bring low scores up that is fine but all to often it means bring up the bottom and bringing down the top. This is the goal of equity with income. The more time teachers spend on working with low performing students the less time they have with other students. This can best be illustrated by how a student with discipline problems is handled. Often times a teacher will spend too much time asking a student to stop misbehaving. It is rarely talked about but the problem occurs with Black students in disproportionate numbers. It is not uncommon for a teacher in algebra class to spend the majority of time with one or two students in a class of 25. Too many students lack the self discipline needed to stay on task and this combined with lack of respect for authority leads to low test scores. Its not woke to say but all too often the problems begin at home.