Asian-Americans Fight Back Against School Discrimination
Making an enemy of testing and grades is barking up the wrong tree. The test isn’t the cause of these disparities. It’s merely a measure of reality. Eliminating the test will only obscure the learning gap, not erase it. Moreover, lowering standards ultimately harms all groups. Schools that admit less-prepared students won’t want them to struggle—or some racial groups to do better than others—so teachers and administrators will be under pressure to make classes less demanding. You can’t dumb down admissions without also dumbing down the curriculum.
If progressives wanted to do something meaningful about the achievement gap, the focus would be on preparing students for these tests. Black and Hispanic students at high-performing charter schools in New York City are admitted to selective high schools at double the rate of their peers in traditional public schools, yet progressives side with teachers unions to prevent more charter schools from opening. Go figure.