New York City’s ‘Fame’ High School is Now in the Grip of the ‘Equity’ Craze
“She’s big on equity — which in practice tends to mean bringing everyone down rather than helping some students rise up.”
If there was ever a school based on merit, this is it. Embracing equity here is insane.
The New York Post reports:
LaGuardia High School in NYC in uproar over ‘equitable’ academics
At this rate it’ll become infamous.
The academic debasement of LaGuardia High School — Manhattan’s renowned “Fame school” — is accelerating, parents fear, as woke principal Yeou-Jey Vasconcelos makes plans to slash its demanding 10-period schedule down to eight periods a day for most students.
“It’s just another example of this principal’s attack on academic excellence,” one parent raged. “She’s big on equity — which in practice tends to mean bringing everyone down rather than helping some students rise up.”
The new “equitable” schedule will force the city’s best and brightest artsy scholars — who take at least three periods of dance, music, visual art, or theater classes every day — to miss out on core college-prep classes such as science and math, simply for lack of time.
“Teachers have been warning students and parents that the eight-period day will decimate academics at LaGuardia,” a furious mom told The Post. “Not just advanced academics, but all academics.”
“The sabotage is ongoing,” another parent said — recalling that Vasconcelos previously made waves for suggesting that AP tests “reflect systemic racism” and tried to scale back LaGuardia’s AP offerings.
Draft schedules circulating among the faculty show the instructional day being shaved down by nearly two hours for the Fall 2022 semester.
While 10 periods would remain on paper, teachers will have to seek special approvals to actually schedule classes during the first and 10th slots, sources said — creating a de facto eight-period day.
“My kid’s guidance counselor told her she can’t take math and science APs next year if she also takes all her arts classes,” one mother complained.
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Comments
This also very conveniently reduces teacher hours, but not teacher compensation. The labor union must be ecstatic.
I’m curious how you think it does that. I think it might put a few teachers out of a job (science and math are said to be cut). I doubt they’ll have trouble finding work, but I don’t see the cushy cut you are talking about if you read the fine print.
How so? The teachers are still being paid, but they will only teach eight periods a day instead of ten. So those kids who would have taken their first or last periods will now not be able to do so.
I wonder what the principal’s background and CV are?
I’m thinking she’s an aspiring actress herself. Vasconcelos is auditioning — she’s just ensuring she has a lock on the role of Diana Moon Glampers in the upcoming Tarrantino remake of Harrison Bergeron.
No doubt, the black and Hispanic kids who made it to this school on merit are being asked what their thoughts are on all of of this…
Aren’t they?