What this curriculum messages to the world, to the world is. We don't think certain students can rise to the occasion. And so instead of finding ways to solve any issues that are standing in the way of them excelling, rather than doing something about those obstacles, [00:00:17] we are going to lower the standards and then pat ourselves on the back with this ridiculous label of equity. This isn't equity. This is giving up on students. San Francisco's superintendent of schools has decided to quietly implement [00:00:33] a new system known as grading for equity, which severely lowers grading standards and will impact approximately 100,000 high school students in the city of San Francisco. Now, Superintendent Maria Su didn't even bother seeking any approval [00:00:51] from the San Francisco Board of Education before moving forward on this. In my opinion, terrible agenda. Now, the Voice of San Francisco, which reported on this story, argues that grading for equity de-emphasizes [00:01:09] the importance of timely performance, meaning turning in your assignments on time, completion of assignments, meaning finishing your assignments, and consistent attendance. So those three things are de-emphasized in regard to the final grade [00:01:29] students will get because, hey, we're grading for equity. Let's pause for a second and just acknowledge the fact that what this curriculum messages to the world, to the world is. We don't think certain students can rise to the occasion. [00:01:46] And so instead of finding ways to solve any issues that are standing in the way of them excelling rather than doing something about those obstacles, we are going to lower the standards and then pat ourselves on the back [00:02:02] with this ridiculous label of equity. This isn't equity. This is giving up on students. Okay, so let me give you more details about this, because, this specific curriculum, includes, well, [00:02:18] grading for equity eliminates homework or weekly tests from being counted in a student's final semester. Grade grades won't be impacted due to late assignments showing up late to class, or not showing up at all. Only the score on a final exam counts, which, by the way, [00:02:37] students can take multiple times. So if you didn't like your original score, you can take it again until you get a score you like. But there's also a catch to the way these tests are scored, because a student right now in a regular traditional grading system [00:02:53] would need a 90 in order to get an A, or at least 61 to get a D. Well, under the, San Leandro Unified School Districts grading for equity system touted by the San Francisco Unified School District and its consultant, [00:03:12] a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A and as low as 21, 21% can pass with a D. I think that's crazy. [00:03:27] So the school district is already negotiating with, a consultant who is, set to train the teachers about grading for equity by August. And, the dude is a total idiot. If you don't believe me, I'll give you some of his quotes. [00:03:43] In fact, the consultant they're referring to is the guy behind this whole grading for equity program. His name is Joe Feldman, the consultant. He wrote in 2019 that in Placer County, another jurisdiction with the grading [00:03:59] system, students who did not qualify for free or reduced reduced price lunch had a sharper decrease in A's, reflecting how traditional grading practices disproportionately benefit students with resources because of the [00:04:16] inequitable inclusion of extra credit and other resource dependent grading criteria. What that statement made no sense. Okay, so if your argument is students who don't qualify for free or reduced [00:04:33] price lunch tend to come from affluent families who have more resources, they could pay for tutoring. They could pay for extra things that help their kids excel. All right. We're having an interesting conversation. But then he, like, weirdly pivoted to extra credit Reddit opportunities. [00:04:53] Yeah. Teachers offer extra credit opportunities to everybody in the class. So I don't I don't know how he's connecting those two things. But if again, if a teacher offers extra credit, it's offered to everyone in that class. And I don't understand like the point that he's trying to make here. [00:05:10] This whole grading for equity scheme is a big racket, by the way, for Feldman himself and consultants like him. He's the CEO of something called Crescendo Education Group, which works with schools and systems on grading practices. [00:05:26] And he's selling a product. I believe that product is snake oil. So I looked at his website, very curious to see what kind of services they offer. So you're taking a look at a screenshot from their website as we speak. It says build teacher capacity for improved grading. [00:05:43] So they offer workshops in the middle there. They talk about one on one coaching that they offer. Their consultants can coach the teachers of this school district so they know how to lower standards for the entirety of their classroom and somehow rebrand that as equity. [00:06:01] And then they offer online classes as well. So these are all services you can pay for. It's a for profit private company. Feldman, a former teacher and principal with degrees from Stanford and NYU and Harvard, you know, institutions that would never admit students who, like, [00:06:19] were able to pass high school but performed so poorly on their SATs because they, you know, maybe didn't learn anything thanks to this grading for equity program. Yeah. So he charges as much as $10,000 per day [00:06:37] for his consulting work. $10,000 a day. Okay. Education consultants say their fee averages between $5000 and $10,000 a day. Feldman says he might charge a couple hundred thousand dollars [00:06:52] to help a district roll out his program over three years. Quote. We are not making much money, he said. If people think I'm buying a boat, that is not happening. I'm not trying to gouge districts. You're getting paid $10,000 a day. [00:07:09] How many? $10,000 a day. Oh, it's not it's not like I can afford a yacht. Okay, look, as you guys can tell, this stuff really infuriates me. And the reason why it infuriates me is because I'm sick of people grifting [00:07:30] off very real issues that we have in this country when it comes to inequality. They have no interest in solving inequality. In fact, they make inequality worse, especially in this instance where kids aren't. If if a school district goes along with this, Kids are not going to be equipped [00:07:48] with what is necessary to succeed in life. Because let me tell you something. Every single day I'm expected to be on camera. Camera ready, researched, ready to go. 3 p.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Eastern every single day. [00:08:07] I would venture to say that if I just show up at, like, 330, 4:00. Show up whenever I want. Maybe my audience would not appreciate that. Because in real life, you don't get graded on a curve. Okay. In real life, there are expectations, and you're supposed to meet [00:08:23] those expectations. And this guy, through his grift, in my opinion, is totally screwing these students over. So Feldman also forces teachers, that he trains to buy his book for the trainings. Let's take a look at that. [00:08:40] The syllabus for professional development program grading for equity says it was designed to support educators in understanding the why and how of implementing equitable grading practices. It required teachers to read the book grading for Equity by Joe Feldman and discuss it during monthly faculty meetings. [00:08:56] The course syllabus contains several links to resources, including reading assignments, Ted talks, and podcasts about the idea of eliminating grading or changing the grading system. In those resources is a slideshow on navigating resistance and how to respond to people who are critical of equity initiatives in different scenarios. [00:09:13] The slide reads A common refrain from white people engaging in this type of resistance is but I grew up poor. The slide recommends using other people in the room to, quote, dilute the Fairness Seekers voice. Oh, that's that's nice. How about maybe addressing, the substantive argument being made? [00:09:33] But they can't they can't address it. So instead they literally direct other people in the room to start screaming and shouting to dilute the person who's raising a concern. I mean, if you had a substantive rebuttal or response, you would engage in [00:09:51] that response, but it appears there isn't a substantive rebuttal. In fact, if this is such a great curriculum and such a great idea, why was the school board not informed of what the superintendent intended to do by implementing this, [00:10:10] grading for equity curriculum or grading system, I should say. Like, why did she have to do it on the DL? Interesting, right? It is, by the way, buried in a three word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meetings 25 page agenda. [00:10:30] The school district's Office of Equity home page does not mention it. And a page containing the San Francisco Unified School District Definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years. Why do this on the DL if this is such a great idea? [00:10:46] Why hide this from the school board? From the parents? Interesting. There has been no outreach to parents, by the way, who clearly would not be in favor of their children getting passing grades. They didn't deserve that. They didn't earn, because that would mean that after graduating, [00:11:02] their kids wouldn't be ready for life. Teachers will have a choice to utilize grading for equity this fall, so it's somewhat voluntary. But once a school district implements this, it will impact all of the students across the board, especially if they're [00:11:22] looking to transfer to a classroom with a traditional grading system. The so-called equity program will also impact, the class ranking scholarship opportunities. Daily study habits and assignments. I mean, it's just such a bad idea, but it's okay because Joe Feldman is [00:11:40] making $10,000 a day pitching this garbage to school districts across the country. Listen, when you tell kids, I don't think that you can rise to the occasion, I don't think you're capable of earning an A. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. [00:11:58] I think we can all remember when we were kids once. I've told this story before. I'm going to say it again. I was a very, very sensitive and easily discouraged fifth grader. I entered fifth grade just oh, it was a I was pity party. Anna okay. [00:12:14] Just didn't think I was capable of anything. Felt sorry for myself. But I had a fifth grade teacher. Her name was Miss Robson. She was from England and she was a hard ass. And she had no interest in anyone's pity party. She had a massive sign in the front of the classroom that said, I can and I will. [00:12:33] She didn't want to hear any whining. She told every single student in that classroom that she believed that we were all capable of excellence. And when you have educators tell you that they believe in you, that they think you're amazing and you're going to do great things, that motivates students. [00:12:53] When students know that they can literally not show up to class and get a passing grade anyway. They're not going to show up to class. They're kids. Especially high school kids. Jeez, this is incredible. So, parents would absolutely push back on this plan, and for good reason. [00:13:12] So, data from two middle schools, in San Leandro, where this, dumb grading system was implemented, in 2016 shows significant disparities among student populations when it comes to performance on statewide assessment tests, obviously, [00:13:30] and in both English and And mathematics. The gaps range from twice to triple to even four times as many students, meeting or exceeding the statewide standard in some subgroups compared to others. The children needing the most help and improvement are not getting it. [00:13:50] The reality is that school districts or this specific school district, the San Francisco Unified School District, they are currently facing a $100 million budget cut. You see, the state of California basically [00:14:05] took tens of billions of our dollars of Californians hard earned tax money, and they wipe their ass with it. $24 billion allocated for homeless nonprofits. They took that money, padded their pockets with it. [00:14:21] Homelessness has exploded in California ever since. There's been no accountability. There's been no reckoning with that theft of our taxpayer money. And now you have a major school district in the state of California paying large sums of money that they can't even afford, considering that $100 million budget cut. [00:14:42] And they're giving it to a snake, a snake oil salesman who's going to further deteriorate the education system in San Francisco. Congratulations. It's unbelievable to me that people fall for this trash, but they do. [00:15:00] And kids suffer for it. When I was teaching at Cal State Northridge, teaching journalism classes there, I was actually kind of shocked at how many students didn't know how to write, didn't know proper grammar. [00:15:15] And I knew how they got all the way to college and didn't know how to write. I knew exactly what happened. It's called grade inflation. It definitely exists. I could have engaged in that too. I could have just passed them and be done with it. But if you care about the future of these kids and in my case, college students, [00:15:32] if you want them to be excellent, if you have chosen to be an educator of any form, well, that's a huge responsibility. And so what I chose to do was work Extra, have a breakout group of students who needed extra help. [00:15:50] I worked extra unpaid hours to catch them up. That's the right way to do it. I'm not saying that teachers need to work extra hours and not get paid, but I would have preferred if that money that's going to go to Joe freakin Feldman [00:16:07] was instead going toward teachers who were willing to take on these breakout classes to help students catch up, to help students rise to the occasion. We should expect excellence from students in America. [00:16:22] Instead, we're lowering standards, by the way, to the detriment of our public education system. So when you hear from parents who don't want to put their kids in public schools, can you understand why that's happening? You want your kids to succeed. And when you hear that an entire school district is literally going to pass [00:16:41] students who don't even show up to class, you're not going to want your kids to go to that school. So if you're on the left, if you value the existence of public education as I do, you're going to want to protect it, and you're not going to allow it to be deteriorated by a group of grifters [00:16:59] who charge $10,000 a day to consult teachers on how to pass students who don't deserve to pass. It's it's infuriating, but that's the reality of the situation. [00:17:15] I wanted you guys to be aware of it. Don't fall for the snake oil salesmen. Just don't do it. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.