California’s Culver City Unified School District will ditch honors classes and use one uniform curriculum in order to “ensure students of all races receive an equal, rigorous education.”
The changes began in fall 2022, when students who normally had the option of enrolling in an honors English class were left with only one English course offering. The class had been eliminated as part of a racial equity initiative.
Superintendent Quoc Tran noted that “Parents say academic excellence should not be experimented with for the sake of social justice,” but added that “it was very jarring when teachers looked at their AP enrollment and realized Black and brown kids were not there. They felt obligated to do something.”
Some parents have spoken out about the changes and presented their concerns to the school board. One mom addressed the school board saying, “I have a child in high school,” and that it is “too easy in his classroom.” She added “I want my child to be challenged.”
Meanwhile, another parent said, “It’s not working and we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater. My daughter, who is a sophomore, has said that it’s not working. She’s been in honors the whole way and as a sophomore now, she says she’s not challenged.”
“She’s now getting like an A +++ in her English class and she’s not being challenged,” the parent added. “She says the class is kind of a joke, so it’s not working.”
Another parent argued that the policy decision “does not specifically address the need for additional support for underperforming students, while also ignoring the needs” of students who are high performing.
A representative of the school district defended the approach in a statement. “This is an issue of both academic rigor and equity. The transition from a two-tier system of “Honors and Non-Honors” to ‘College Prep’ classes-for-all was led by our English teachers.
“We put our trust in our educators who are closest to our students, the teachers who are with them in the classroom day in and day out,” the representative added.
Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com.
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