George W. Bush

Oregon Abolishes Graduation Standards, Affirming George W. Bush’s Assessment Of Liberals’ ‘Soft Bigotry’

How far we’ve come in 21 years.

Running for president in 2000, Republican George W. Bush told the NAACP national conference, “Strong civil rights enforcement will be a cornerstone of my administration.”

But, Bush added, he would also “confront another form of bias: the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

Bush argued that a radical approach was needed to bridge the “tremendous gap of achievement” that existed between rich and poor and whites and minorities.

“No child in America should be segregated by low expectations, imprisoned by illiteracy, abandoned to frustration and the darkness of self-doubt,” said Bush to a round of applause.

“A great movement of education reform has begun in this country built on clear principles: to raise the bar of standards, expect every child can learn; to give schools the flexibility to meet those standards; to measure progress and insist upon results; to blow the whistle on failure; to provide parents with options to increase their option, like charters and choice; and also remember the role of education is to leave no child behind.”

And yet, in 2021, as President Joe Biden is doing in Afghanistan, Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Kate Brown is waving a white flag on providing a quality education and holding students and teachers accountable for achievement.

As the website, PJ Media reported, “Brown signed a stealth law on July 14 that removed the requirement for a student to pass a proficiency test in essential skills like reading and math before graduating.”

Because of COVID-19, Oregon suspended applying the standards until all students now in high school graduate, meaning 2024. Yet the new law precludes an updated recommendation on the graduation standards until September 2022 and promises not to impose them on students than in school.

This means the graduation requirements are blocked until 2027.

“The governor refused to say if she supported the measure earlier this summer and even after signing the bill, refused to endorse it. She held no signing ceremony for the bill, nor did she issue a press release,” PJ Media noted.

“Her office also failed to update the legislative database until July 29, a departure from the normal practice of updating the public database the same day a bill is signed.”

The lack of transparency shows that Brown hoped to avoid widespread criticism.

But the reason behind the bill is the same rationale we see for affirmative action policies, public support for Planned Parenthood when it puts most of its clinics in minority neighborhoods, and left-wing, big city prosecutors’ refusal to arrest and prosecute looters and vandals:

Liberal racism.  

PJ Media cited a piece on the jettisoned graduation standards by The Oregonian, the state’s biggest newspaper.

The paper quoted Charles Boyle, Brown’s deputy communications director, who said ridding students of the burden to meet standards for reading, writing, and math proficiency will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”

“Leaders from those communities have advocated time and again for equitable graduation standards, along with expanded learning opportunities and supports,” Boyle said.

So the answer for liberals, instead of helping minority students meet the standards, is to simply abolish the standards and ensure Oregon parents have no clue as to how well their children are being educated.

All in the name of “equity.”

Bigotry indeed.

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