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Fair is a quality of humanity

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Equity is a critical feature of a humane society.  That we have a society in which those who have have a better chance of getting is a critical problem for it allows, especially in the case of children, it places the value of some above that of others.

From NYT article on the selection of children into select schools, children from the “better off” families having a far better chance of getting into the better schools than those from families with less.

Fairness is a measure of our humanity and in a great many instances we fail to be fair.

“You’ve set up a system of competition among high schools in which the easiest way for a principal to win is to select the students who are best prepared,” Mr. Kahlenberg said. “Certainly having that market-based ideology — without guidelines for equity — appears to have accelerated the growth of screening.”

The most coveted schools get thousands of aspirants for a limited number of seats and operate like de facto private schools with competitive admissions that can require families to stand in long lines to attend open houses, and pour thousands of dollars into tutors and admissions consultants.

White and Asian students are more likely to go to screened high schools, according to a study that looked at high school placements for the graduating class of 2015 by Measure of America, which is part of the Social Science Research Council. Black and Latino children, on the other hand, most often attended high schools without academic admissions requirements. Poor students were also overrepresented at those schools.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/nyregion/public-schools-screening-admission.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

By lafered

Retired professor of education concerned with thoughtfulness

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