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The bridge of good intentions

NYTimes: California's Equity Agenda Is a Smashing Success

David Strom:

There is a massive movement among University of California STEM professors to bring back standardized testing. 

There is a simple reason for that, and it has nothing to do with a right-wing political awakening among the professoriate. It's because they have found themselves wasting time teaching 7th-grade math to students who are supposed to be taking advanced classes. 

Of course, it's no surprise that it is STEM professors, especially older STEM professors who haven't been brought up steeped in the SJW movement, who are leading the charge. Many, though not all, still have some connection to the real world through their work. 

Fortunately, the NYT is here to protect decency, fairness and compassion:

Strom:

If the problem is that an unusually large number of minority students can't do basic math, the solution is not to pretend that this isn't the case and call it "justice." It's to teach them math, or at least direct them to life paths where math proficiency is not required. 

We don't need engineers with certificates that say "qualified," and results say "bridge collapsed." Pawel either thinks bridges collapsing is a price worth paying for the piece of paper and the applause given to underachievers, or she lives in a fantasy land where ability is determined by credentials alone. 

I vote for the latter. Liberals love credentials. As long as we all agree that something is true, reality be damned.

Liberals always speak in aspirational terms that touch our hearts and avoid our rational minds, and they also live in a world where touching hearts is all that matters, at least in addition to having a nice, largely unearned income. They speak of equity from their expensive salons and discuss its importance at galas where they applaud each other for thinking the right things and spending enough time browbeating the hoi polloi for being concerned with actual results. 

And this:

NY Regents Scrap Graduation Exam Requirement: ‘You Don’t Assess a Fish on Climbing a Tree’

“…"… after the test became controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates."

More on New York (Moron New York?)

New York’s education policy-making board passed a resolution Monday phasing out the requirement that students pass a series of Regents exams to earn a high school diploma.

Current 12th graders will be the last graduating class required to pass at least four Regents exams in math, English, science and Global Studies.

Students on track to graduate in 2028 will no longer be required to pass the exams to finish high school, but they will still take them.

…

Education officials are calling the new graduation requirements “NY Inspires”.

“NY Inspires is fundamentally about strengthening teaching and learning and creating deeper, more meaningful educational experiences for every student. By maintaining rigorous standards while giving students more opportunities to apply their knowledge, think critically, solve problems, and demonstrate what they know and can do, we are better preparing them for college, careers, civic life, and the future,” said state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa.