A nauseating story from New Jersey of how petty and litigious our society has become:

Blair Hornstine suffers from an immune deficiency disease that has forced her to take classes at home - with private tutors - and she is not required to take phys. ed classes (which all other students must take to graduate). She excelled and her grades placed her at the top of her class.

If the story ended there, all would be fine. But it doesn’t end there.

She wants to be valedictorian. The sole valedictorian. But the school insisted that another student serve as co-valedictorian. This student actually attended the school, took ALL of his classes, and finished at the top of his class, with a GPA a few hundredths of a point less than Hornstine's.

Her parents – both of whom are lawyers, naturally – sued and won: Hornstine will represent her class as the sole valedictorian. Now Hornstine's parents are complaining about the hostility they are receiving from the school and the community. Many students are threatening not to clap - and may even boo - when Hornstine is at the podium.

Too bad.

All the disability advocates are coming out of the woodwork to defend these "special" people from the uncivilized brutes who criticize them.

Donna Conaway asks:

“Did Blair Hornstine gain an academic advantage because of the extra test time and individualized attention she was given? That's the wrong question.”

No, it is the right question. (In dealing with these people, they almost always say their critics ask the wrong questions, but they never answer them - it's very condescending).

A standardized educational environment is the only thing we humans can aspire to provide.

In reality, even that isn't fair: some students were read to as children; others weren’t. Some students go to bed at a reasonable hour and watch little TV; Others stay up playing video games. Some come from rich, stable households. Others come from broken homes. Certainly, we can help kids who fall behind, but it is beyond the capabilities of human beings to make everything fair.

The only thing we can do give them all the same learning environment and let some excel.

This is not a hearing aid or a wheel chair: Hornstine had different teachers - private tutors- and she certainly benefitted from their undivided attention.She was given unlimited time to take her tests, and she took them privately. She was essentially going to a different school.

The scary thing is these diversity advocates think they not only have the means, but the legal obligation to "make everything fair."

And they simply can't understand why unwashed people who don't even have degrees in developmental psychology would have the nerve to try to stop them.







- posted by total @ 5/14/2003 05:44:00 AM .