What Does Public Education Really Prioritize? Why?

SO over the holiday, we saw the racism of the education system in America rear its ugly head again… once again disguising itself as “Anti-Racism”.

Key Facts of the New York Post story:
The school had implemented a 50% minimum grade for “showing up”
For years the school has hid National Merit Awards, crippling at least 1200 student’s academic careers, blocking potentially millions of dollars of scholarships to students
This is all excused as an attempt to prevent hurt feelings in “minorities”.

How is this not seen as extraordinarily racist against the primarily middle and far eastern Merit recipients and even more racist against the black and brown students the administration is calling to stupid to stand on their own? The Left has traded in the open racism of saying that blacks cannot be taught to an obscured but equally or more so vile racism that claims that those other nationalities who excel must be barred from success. This has occurred in many ways and we have seen this across many stories. Not too long ago we had a professor claim that grade based learning was racist.

Dunbar High School is an interesting case study. Dunbar High School, in Washington DC, was wildly successful in the early to mid 1900s. A black only school, with less funding, and under persecution by Democrats, Dunbar thrived with black students faring as well or better than any white kids in the nation. Did they have a 50% base score for showing up? Did they focus on their African heritage? Did have counseling for the actual persecution that they were facing with under funding and lynchings? No to all of the above. Excellence was demanded, and discipline was employed. Unfortunately, instead of bringing the schools to this level during the 1950s and 60s, the forced integration of schools via busing also led to Dunbar’s descent into a “typical ghetto school” as Thomas Sewell puts it. Noone looked to see why Dunbar succeeded and made one of the few examples of an excellent school for African American students into a modern day public school.

How did they accomplish this? By taking merit out of the equation. Set lower standards and people will never be forced to aim higher. What’s worse is that students who do aim higher due to their culture and upbringing are kneecapped today by those who would enforce so-called equity. This has only had disastrous results and we now see Dunbar has no more academic excellence than any other public school.

What solutions are proposed? More spending? Lowering the standard? Resegregation? The Dunbar School was underfunded and discipline was incredibly strict so those are not solutions. Resegregation will do just as much damage as half-hearted integration did and leave us in an educational apartheid. What worked in Dunbar, and what produces excellence in children’s academics, is not lower standards, more funding, and racism, but the opposite of each. A Godly education with high standards does not need funding and abolishes racism. Of course, this is exactly counter to what we see being proposed today in modern academia. We can only change the culture one heart and mind at a time, but a great place to do this is in the schools. We as Christians need to focus our efforts overhauling or disbanding the public education system. But we can only do this if we offer a replacement. Wouldn’t it be an interesting disruption to the evil in our world if the Church offered a pay as you can school option that outperformed public education. Just a thought.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10183499/Arizona-State-University-prof-says-grading-racist-based-labor.html
https://nypost.com/2022/12/23/top-school-principal-hides-academic-awards-in-name-of-equity/amp/
https://www.nationalaffairs.com/storage/app/uploads/public/58e/1a4/ba6/58e1a4ba616e4230354245.pdf
https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/05/fate-dunbar-high-thomas-sowell/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDDY-urcBAY

#podcast #listenable #christianity #fed #furthereveryday #america #responsibility #publicschools #publiceducation #crt #criticalracetheory #apologetics