Life Ain't Fair

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - The Declaration of Independence (1776)

All men may be created equal, but they do not remain that way.  Each individual is continuously changed by the very act of living.  Since there are not 7 billion people sitting in my living room right now, it goes without saying that everyone has different experiences and is changed in different ways.  Some for good, some for ill.  The upshot is, once we start living life, the equal thing goes out the window.  Besides, which the Founders had something of a different point in mind when penning those words.

"Good is the enemy of great." - Jim Collins (2001)

Yes, it is.  But in modern American education, there is an even bigger enemy: equality.  Equality is slowly, inexorably destroying everything it touches in our school system.  Like kudzu, or nasturtiums, or ginger beer, equality is creeping into every nook and cranny of education and once it takes root, it is impossible to remove.

In school, every kid must be treated equally.  Doesn't matter if the fifth grader cannot add 2 + 2 or is able to solve differential equations, all fifth graders must complete the same math lessons.  Doesn't matter if the fourth grader can't read and doesn't know the alphabet, he must attend art and music with his classmates.  Too bad the fire marshal said the room can only hold 34 people, everyone who signed up for band must be allowed in the class.  Everyone who signed up for AP Biology must be allowed to take the course, and receive a passing grade, regardless of whether they can understand the textbook or not.

If little Johnny is dawdling in class and refusing to work, he cannot be held in at recess to finish because then he is not being given equal access to the playground as other students who complete their work in a timely manner.  If little Susie is unable add or read CVC words by the end of first grade, she cannot be held back.  She must be passed along to the second grade, otherwise her parents might think she is not being treated as equally as her peers. 

All of these are real examples of equality in action in the modern American classroom.  The delightful irony of it is:  In the end, all this equality turns out students who are most decidedly unequal in their educational accomplishments.  In the same graduating class their will be those headed for university and those headed for jail.  And just how is that equal?

"The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven't seen them since." - Gore Vidal (1975)

Until such time as we can get over this childish notion of equality, we never will.