Written by William Hale
While people come from all around the world to attend California’s world-class universities, the Golden State isn’t necessarily known for its K-12 education. Multiple studies rank California middle-of-the-road at best, with severe underperforming in many southern California neighborhoods in particular. The state hasn’t reached its academic potential largely due to liberal-minded politicians and their progressive vision for public education.
Patrick Henry High School in San Diego’s Allied Gardens neighborhood is the latest public school to conform their course offerings in accordance with the state’s “equity” agenda. Parents and students were outraged when the San Diego Unified School District implemented a plan to eliminate some Honors and Advanced classes for the 2022-23 school year.
Superintendent Erin Richinson informed students of their course adjustment plan in an email, which according to NBC San Diego 7, said that the “course adjustments would create a more balanced heterogeneously grouped classes, eliminate the stigma of non-weighted courses, and provide a well-balanced course offering for all students.”
In other words, the school district wanted to shrink the ostensibly wide range of academic achievement by lowering the bar for everyone. But the pushback from 150 students and parents in a virtual meeting, along with in-person protests outside the district headquarters resulted in SDUSD to reinstate Patrick Henry’s honors program and pause the course adjustment plan. “Equity doesn’t mean giving everybody the same thing, equity means giving everyone the opportunity to reach their potential,” said parent Felice Aston.
After the demonstrations, Richninson said that “we will be collaborating with our district curriculum teams to develop honors courses at the 9th and 10th-grade levels open to any interested student for the 2022-23 school year,” an immediate 180 compared to her district’s plan just weeks earlier. Some of the courses that will return will be Honors American Literature and Honors US History
Photo Cred: Dan Summers/ NBC 7 San Diego
