Some parents of children in Fairfax County, Virginia were shocked to learn recently that their high school (Thomas Jefferson HS, a STEM centric school) has no commitment to academic excellence.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology “(TJHS”) is a magnet school that requires students to have an academic record of accomplishment as a prerequisite for admission. One would think that academic achievement would be encouraged and recognized.
Wrong!
The administrators there follow the dictates of the school superintendent, Michelle Reid, who demands equal outcomes for every student “without exception.”
🚨Breaking: FCPS commits to Equal Outcomes over Academic Excellence🚨
At today's Strategic Planning Mtg, @FCPSSupt goes all in on providing "equal outcomes," an objective that will require lowering of standards, detracking, and penalizing high-achieving students for working hard pic.twitter.com/lgeRxlBSf8
— Fairfax County Parents Association (@FFXParentsAssoc) December 3, 2022
This is stupidity beyond comprehension. As one wag noted, “Idiots like Bonitatibus are termites destroying their school from within, seeding the further destruction of our country.” The video clip reveals Reid to be a smug, self-righteous moron. This kind of crap is the direct result of Obama’s policies of equity for our public schools.
Equal outcomes is communism. Equal outcomes is not possible without lowering standards. And lowering the standards is what has taken place as a look at the grading standards indicate. Schools should provide the opportunities and environment for success. Those that strive and achieve should be recognized.
In the specific case of TJHS, administrators there, Principal Ann Bonitatibus and Director of Student Services Brandon Kosatka, have been hiding National Merit award notifications because “it was unfair that some students received them and others didn’t.” This sounds an awful lot like we should give everyone who participates a trophy regardless of their abilities. The fact that those who received the awards—mostly Asian students—earned them was irrelevant to the hyper-woke administrators.
This is blatant discrimination and goes against the core values of this country. What has happened to rewarding merit and ability?
Is this a one year, out of body experience for TJHS? The answer unfortunately is no. TJHS has, for years, withheld from students the fact that they earned National Merit awards based upon their PSAT awards. This is the kind of information that students can use to gain access to scholarships, and that looks good on a college admission application.
The current estimate for the children who were disadvantaged by this insane policy is 1,200 over the five-year tenure of the principal. And this was not an oversight on the part of the administrators.
On September 16 of this year, National Merit sent a letter to Bonitatibus listing 240 students recognized as Commended Students or Semi-Finalists. The letter included these words in bold type: “Please present the letters of commendation as soon as possible since it is the students’ only notification.”
There needs to be consequences for harming the long-term prospects of these children who came to TJHS with the idea of reaching new heights in academic achievement. The superintendent, the principal and the director of student services all need to be fired. If clawing back some of their salary is possible that needs to be done as well.
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