Left's war on merit and Republicans' fight to save the American Dream

I know what racism looks like. I saw it during my childhood in the Jim Crow South.

I have also experienced the gift of growing up in a remarkable community that never let circumstances stand in the way of a dream. I was raised by educators who taught me that success was possible; I just needed to work for it. And I did. I never let failure hold me back. Instead, I fought to take advantage of every opportunity.

When I think about my kids’ and grandchildren’s future, I imagine a nation well beyond using race as a measure of intelligence and potential. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the political Left has tried to drag us down. They are intent on teaching Black and Brown students that the system is stacked against them, there is nothing they can do to stop it, and it is better to live in a perpetual state of victimhood.

This pessimistic message – holding back countless students because of race – is what the Left is trying to instill in our youth. This nonsense has reached America’s classrooms, where school boards and staff are waging a war on merit by lowering standards, canceling advanced and AP classes, and replacing entrance exams with arbitrary quota systems all in the name of so-called equity. 

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Not only is minimizing standards counterintuitive to what we should be doing in K-12 and higher education, but it is also an insult to every student who is being fed myths that they are not as smart or capable as their peers because of race.

From teacher training to grading rubrics, we have seen how the “war on merit” has permeated our schools. Fairfax County, Virginia, one of the most egregious offenders of COVID school closures, provided their teachers with training on “grading for equity,” and they downplayed the data that showed student performance was lacking.

In Seattle Public Schools, the district made the insane decision in the name of “equity” to shut down 11 schools dedicated to offering hundreds of students gifted programs, leaving parents “flabbergasted” and disappointed.

Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina went as far as formally adopting an “equity policy” that stated, “all employees must apply an equity lens to examine and reflect on individual practices and biases,” while eliminating gifted and advanced courses.

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Instead of putting in the work and resources to help the kids who are falling behind, some districts have squandered money on “equity” consultants and other insulting and ineffective initiatives that only succeed in holding students back and stoking division.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the school district paid out $120,000 to create so-called “equitable grading policies.” A report released by the nonprofit, grassroots organization Parents Defending Education found that at least 20 school districts were implementing DEI hiring practices instead of focusing on applicants’ experiences, qualifications, and credentials.

Some school districts have gone as far as making it impossible for students to fail, even if they have not proven baseline proficiency in core subjects. In August 2021, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon signed a bill into law that would allow students to graduate high school even if they couldn’t perform the reading, writing and math expected of a student who completed 12th grade. 

What happened? Students figured out they could show up briefly, get marked present, leave, and hand in two assignments, and they would still be able to pass.

Gov. Kate Brown speaks during an interview in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2016. (Meg Roussos/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a separate case, an audit conducted by the Maryland Inspector General’s Office and released in June 2022 found that high schools across Baltimore changed more than 12,000 grades to passing. It should be no surprise that at 13 high schools in the district, zero students demonstrated proficiency on the 2023 state math exam.

Our education system needs an overhaul. Schools should not be looking for ways to lower standards. Slashing academic opportunities is not the answer. We need policies in place that meet students where they are, help them progress, and challenge them to meet and exceed their true potential. 

Excellence should be the standard – not the exception.

Meritocracy and education are how a man like me could rise to serve in the most powerful legislative body in the world. Every American student deserves that same opportunity.

That is why I am launching The Merit Caucus, focused on advancing and protecting merit in the American education system. Together, we will work to ensure that every student in America receives access to a quality education that matches their true potential and challenges them to be better.

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