SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES EQUITY STATEMENT

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Tom Salmon

In TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN HOW TO BE BIGOTS? — PART 2 | Prince William-Manassas Family Alliance (familyallianceonline.org), we considered the difference between equality and equity. When we treat people equally we try to avoid partiality, that is, giving some people preferences over others. On the other hand, when we strive for equity, we intentionally show partiality in order to achieve an equality of outcomes. When is treating others equally appropriate? When is striving for equity appropriate? It depends upon the situation and criteria we use. Consider a couple of examples.

  • If we were hiring someone to be a manager in the Prince William County’s Department of Social Services, we could not hire anyone based upon their race, sex, or creed. The law requires us to be impartial and to treat all the candidates equally regardless of race, sex, or creed.
  • If we were a young man and we had the opportunity to hold the door of a building open for a pregnant woman or a 250 pound weightlifter, commonsense would dictate that we demonstrate partiality for the pregnant woman.

With these sort of distinctions in mind, consider the School Board approves Equity Statement – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu). When we read this Equity Statement, it sounds innocuous. That is, the word “equity” seem innocent enough, but the concept of equity can be used to drive spending decisions. Instead of spending money on students equally, “equity” allows government officials to show partiality in their spending decisions.

Don’t think so? Consider the two links we find on School Board approves Equity Statement – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu).

The Prince William County School Board approved an equity statement recommended by the Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Equity. View the approved equity statement. Learn more about the Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Equity.

The Equity Statement – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu) justifies the policy douments listed in Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Equity – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu).

Consider how one of the documents listed in Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Equity – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu), defines the difference between equality and equity.

Educational equality means that all students receive equal access to the same educational pathways. While this is a laudable goal, simply leveling the field is not enough. States should strive for equity in educational opportunities, providing all students with the unique supports they need to succeed.

A focus on equity takes into consideration the varying personal experiences and social identifiers that impact students’ educational opportunities, including race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, family background and others. To address these inequities, education leaders must first understand that diverse students have diverse needs. States have the power to advance educational equity by targeting resources and crafting policy that challenge the status quo.

Equity_in_Education_Key_questions_to_consider.pdf (ecs.org)

The document clearly states that states should show partiality based upon factors we associate with identity politics (Identity Politics | Definition of Identity Politics by Merriam-Webster). That can be difficult to do that without violating equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment (The Constitution: Amendments 11-27 | National Archives (14th Amendment)). The equal protection clause exists for good reason. When we give our government the power to treat some people with greater preferences than others, such practices usually lead to far more abuses than benefits for the country as a whole.

Focus for a moment on the problem that the “equity” advocates most want to solve, what PWCS is most committed to solving, racism. 

Assuring all PWCS staff members examine and interrupt beliefs, implicit and explicit biases, policies and/or practices that perpetuate systemic racism and discrimination.

Equity Statement – Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu)

Perhaps half of the country claims we have systemic racism. The other half claims we have solved the problem of systemic racism. Hence, we battle over whether or not our government should be promoting beliefs like Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. Then consider the irony. The people most busily promoting “equity” are also the ones most actively trying to systematize discrimination based upon a very shallow definition of “identity.” Systematize discrimination? Yep! That is, instead of not being racists, we must be anti-racists or we are racists. That is, to fix the problem of discrimination in the past, we must reverse the discrimination of the past.

Let’s look down the road and consider the consequences of being anti-racists. If, to solve the problem of systemic racism and discrimination, what will happen if we insist upon making our choices based upon race, sex, creed, and who knows what else? How will instituting systemic discrimination based upon race, sex, creed, and who knows what else eliminate systemic discrimination based upon race, sex, creed, and who knows what else ?  

If we teach our children that it is virtuous to view other people by their race, sex, creed, and who knows what else, how will that teach our children that they should not engage in systemic discrimination based upon race, sex, creed, and who knows what else?  Where is the good in that? If something really doesn’t matter, there is no right way to discriminate against another human being just because we want it to matter. If it does not matter, then it is wrong because it does not matter. That’s why Martin Luther King had a dream for his children.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of that character. I have a dream today.

I Have a Dream Speech Transcript – Martin Luther King Jr. – Rev

Is Critical Race Theory A Real Threat?

What Others Are Saying

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