Horace Mann student beautifully dismantles oppressive culture of “equity”

T he administration and faculty of Westport Public Schools would benefit immensely from reviewing the op-ed piece recently published by Horace Mann School student Ryan Finlay. In this essay, Mr. Finlay dissects in a very clear and nuanced manner the ideological oppression he and his classmates have endured as students at Horace Mann in New York City. Given Westport Public Schools’ own avowed commitment to the ideology of equity, we are certain the author’s experience contains many parallels with what students in Westport have faced in recent years.

We draw particular attention to Mr. Finlay’s discussion of a cartoon graphic that is frequently deployed by equity advocates:

Mr. Finlay writes: “Everyone is exposed to the graphic at some point during their HM education and told to recognize the inherent superiority of the equity model. In other words, equity is taught as a moral imperative.

The gravity of the graphic’s message is easy to miss. When it’s displayed to students, the struggle between the two choices is made cartoonishly simple, literally. The choice of equity seems so plainly obvious that if you argue for equality, it appears as if you are an elitist who doesn’t want people without certain resources to enjoy their lives. There is never any dynamic discussion on the real effects of either choice. Equality and equity are philosophies on access, but the real pros and cons of choosing one over the other, details which are decidedly complex and unable to be reduced to childish cartoons, are practically ignored. When the principle of the sports game is applied to the real world, it proposes either a rejection of meritocracy, or a denial that it exists in the first place. This approach gets students bogged down in a false impression of simplicity, leading to such conclusions on meritocracy that frequently include: the system is broken, unable to be reformed, rotten to the core, and deserving of demolition.”

Westport schools claim to promote critical thinking but instead promote what Mr. Finlay correctly describes as a particular philosophy (equity) with no sense of openness to the possibility that this philosophy is flawed. This is wrong in two major respects.

First, no political ideology or conception of social justice should be favored within our schools, either when it comes to how the schools are managed or what our kids are taught. The “equity lens” is but one way of approaching complex problems, and it should not be privileged over any other (pun intended). Individuals in our community are free to believe in the philosophy of equity, but they are violating established norms of American democracy when they seek to encode it or enforce it within our public schools or local government. In doing so, they are also showing extraordinary contempt for freedom of conscience and speech.

Second, equity as a political philosophy or ideology explicitly contradicts one of the most essential principles of American society, from the Declaration of Independence to I Have a Dream. Through their incessant promotion of equity, Westport schools are devaluing what is perhaps our most important shared value — that all of us are equals, should be seen as equals and treated as equals. Our schools should avoid the promotion of any ideology, but it is particularly galling that they have chosen to promote one that is so inconsistent with our laws, traditions and culture.

Mr. Finlay displayed great courage expressing his beliefs and impressions as a Horace Mann student. If there are any students at Staples who feel silenced or intimidated with regard to their political or philosophical views, we offer this platform (on an anonymous or non-anonymous basis) as a means of communicating their perspective to the community. Please feel free to contact us here with any submissions.