Demonizing Equity

Happy Saturday! Let’s get into it.

Recently, I’ve been feeling really angry. Maybe it’s the state of the world. Let me stop myself right there—that’s definitely it.

I’ve been getting blasted, directly and indirectly, with anti-equity messaging locally and of course, nationally.

Take this response to my February Evanston RoundTable column. I’ve redacted the name of the commenter (this is not a Delvey Bruckner situation). This person did not hide behind a goofy pseudonym, and they’re not coming at my writing ability or craft. They’re just expressing their opinion, which fine, that is their prerogative. But I want to respond to this comment directly and on my own terms.

A comment, posted on my February column, from the Evanston RoundTable.

Let me take a deep breath before responding. Which, as my four year old so often reminds me, is a very effective calming strategy. Take a bweak, Mom, and then a big bweff.

Alright. So, break officially taken, incense lit; I’m in my calming head space. Here goes.

For me, the crux of the issue lies here: most people, this commenter included, don’t understand what exactly the E in DEI represents. That E stands for equity, which MEANS that EVERYONE should have access to an EXCELLENT education.

My mistake for not explicitly naming that in my column. Lesson learned. Next time, I will make sure to spell that out.

The idea that equity takes away from excellence is damaging on so many levels. Excellence for who? Those at the top of our social hierarchy; the ones the US educational system was designed to serve? The white and privileged?

As I was reminded two weeks ago at Shorefront Legacy Center, the system is not broken. It is working exactly as it was intended. This educational system was designed to fail marginalized populations: Black, Brown, low income students, and those with special needs.

Equity is the mechanism that seeks to level the playing field a bit and attempts to right some historic wrongs. We’ve all seen that graphic. The one with the kids standing on the platform, all at different heights, so they’re able to see over the fence.

You cannot have equity without excellence and you cannot have excellence without equity. They are mutually dependent on each other, because excellence for a few is not really excellence. It’s just the status quo.

From a teacher perspective, it doesn’t feel great to be a cog in a jacked up machine. To see how the system fails kids over and over again and how that is just accepted and expected. And it probably feels even worse for a parent, watching the system fail their children.

But how did these negative attitudes towards equity emerge; where did they come from? I would argue they come from failed attempts to repair the system. Giving teachers a garbage, scripted curriculum in the name of equity, for example, and stripping them of their autonomy is not a fix. Teachers, excited to teach and utilizing research-based best practices, will make the biggest impact.

According to the commenter, we, the educators and system, are sending students to the next grade level unprepared and lacking basic skills in “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” To this I would argue the poster is actually advocating for more equity.

You want the schools to provide students with the skills they need to be successful? Same, my dude. That’s what I want. But who are you really talking about? Which students do we see lacking those skills, based on standardized testing data? (another racist practice). Well, I see the gap mostly existing for kids who have historically lacked grade level proficiency. Maybe you weren’t aware, but you are actually championing equity, sir.

I agree, many students are not getting what they need in schools. I also agree that the system, as a whole, and this goes beyond the educational system, needs to do better before kids even get to elementary school.

Which is partially why I am frustrated by the proclamation that it is entirely D65’s fault that students are “woefully prepared for D202.” That we keep passing the buck and not solving the “problem.” Kids are not a problem to be solved. That sort of deficit mindset is harmful on many levels.

Finally, let’s name the elephant in the proverbial room. Our community is still reeling from a very polarizing superintendent who sat on his soapbox preaching equity into his megaphone, while simultaneously making choices, economic and otherwise, that were not often in the best interest of those very children he claimed to serve. If we as a community cannot acknowledge that we were taken advantage of by a corrupt person who fanned the flames of hatred and division, we cannot start the healing process. We will forever be stuck in a viscous cycle of blame and shame.

We, as a community, cannot conflate one bad actor with the idea of equity in education. And lets not forget about the negligent school board, because they screwed up too. I’m sorry, but that is not equity’s fault. Equity is not the problem.

Progressives, can we all get on the same page, for the love of God? I don’t know if this commenter is progressive, but for the sake of this rebuttal, let’s just pretend they are, since they seem to believe in freedom of the press.

We cannot let this kind of petty stuff divide us anymore. We are in the middle of a national moment that is so messed up, so authoritarian, so anti-free speech that I’m probably on some government watch list for typing the words equity and education in the same article.

So please you guys, can’t we, progressives, just all get along? Stop poking holes and tearing each other down. We need to create a united front in the face of fascism; welcome to the resistance.

And friends, that united front INCLUDES equity. Because equity IS excellence.