Thanks to the Progressive Republic of Oregon, we now know what “equitable” means.
A few days ago Governor Kate Brown (D, of course) signed Senate Bill 744 eliminating proficiency requirements for high school graduation. As a result, the Oregonian reports, “For the next five years, an Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level.”
Charles Boyle, the governor’s deputy communication director, explained in an email to the Oregonian that the new graduation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color. Leaders from those communities,” Boyle explained, “have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards….”
Boyle leaves some questions unanswered — are “Latino,” “Latina,” and “Latinx” really three separate “communities” (assuming “Latinx” is anything at all)? Are “Indigenous” and “Tribal” really two” — but at least he has clarified what Democrats mean by “equitable” standards. They are not standards that apply equally to all but the absence of standards. Oregon reveals just how low the lowest common denominator can be forced to go.
