Equality or excellence?

It was with some concern we recently noted that, at five local high schools, the valedictorians and salutatorians were all girls. And in our own high school, twelve of fifteen senior honors students were girls as well. That boys are not represented in proportion to their demographics is starkly exposed. Boys are not achieving on tests that girls are knocking out of the park.

No one seems to know exactly what is going on here. Various cultural and social theories of the causes are proposed. Potential solutions are suggested – encouraging the boys, providing incentives, perhaps tutoring, or remedial studies.

But in the goal of equal results, there is another approach that can be taken. Let’s fiddle with the tests so that girls’ achievements are leveled and the boys are then seen to be equal.

After all, that was good enough for the City of New Haven (Ricci v. DeStefano), as confirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (Sotomayor, Pooler, and Sack). When equality is the goal, it is only excellence that suffers – a small price to pay.