Equality vs. Equity

· I believe that the recent push for “equity” is in effect people giving up on pursuing equality. The equity movement focuses on outcomes and ascribes any differences in outcomes to discrimination. However, there are a multitude of factors that can affect social or economic success, including education, effort, talent, culture, local market conditions, and even random chance. 

· Our country has made great strides in creating equal opportunities and a level playing field for all. Looking to just ensure equal outcomes as the sole goal is a lazy search for a quick fix. While it is frustrating and difficult to identify the root causes of why some groups or individuals don’t achieve at the same level as others, it is a necessary societal endeavor. Merely dictating desired results through government action simply papers over and hides root problems, and we should be bold enough to take on the harder task of trying to solve the causes of underperformance.

· A good example is here in Fairfax County with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ). There was a noble motive behind the changes in admissions to TJ, in that administrators wanted to increase the percentage of Black and Brown students. However, when confronted with the fact that not enough Black and Brown students were scoring high enough for admission, the school board misguidedly made arbitrary changes to the admissions scoring formula to gain a desired percentage. That action in no way addresses the root problem. They should have been looking to address the reasons behind lower scores, whether it be facilities, teacher quality, resources, family involvement and expectations, or individual effort. No one believes there is a genetic reason for the underperformance. Artificial efforts to gain racial quotas may make administrators feel good, but it just hides an indicator of the problem, a problem that remains. Plus, it leaves some of those less-prepared students at a disadvantage in a demanding environment. Schools will either see them struggling to keep up (as has been documented with similar efforts in Ivy League schools) or schools will have to lower the quality and pace of education, which hurts those who gained admission fully on merit. Equity, as the Left understands it, doesn’t fix anything root causes, it hides them.