by Emilio Jaksetic
According to an article by Asra Q. Nomani and Heather Zwicker, Fairfax County Public Schools has signed a sole-source contract with Performance Fact, Inc., which explicitly advocates the following: “To have an equity-centered organization, we have to have the courage and the willingness to be purposefully unequal when it comes to opportunities and access.”
It is worth noting that the President/CEO of Performance Fact, Inc. is listed as a Facilitator of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Strategic Planning Process.
The article by Ms. Nomani and Ms. Zwicker contains a hypertext link to an “Equity-centered Strategic Planning” presentation made at a School Board retreat on September 20, 2022 at Falls Church, Virginia. The presentation is attributed to the President/CEO of Performance Fact, Inc. In that presentation, on page 24, there is a list of 16 “equity indicators” that are supposed to help determine whether or not there is “consequential ‘equity disparity’” among student groups, including the following:
2. Self-Regulation and Attention Skills
3. Engagement in Schooling
4. Performance in Coursework
5. Performance on Tests
Also, the following language appears on page 25 of that presentation:
The Equity Imperative: Equitable Access, Equal Outcomes Equitable access to resources and opportunities that guarantee fair, just, and affirming experiences and produce equal outcomes for every student, without exception (emphasis added)
Given the “equity indicators” listed above, “produce equal outcomes for all students” logically entails: (1) All students get the same grade regardless of the quality of their efforts and performance on homework assignments, classroom exercises, classroom performance, and quizzes or tests; (2) All students pass and advance to the next grade regardless of the quality of their efforts and academic performance; and (3) All students graduate from high school regardless of the quality of their efforts and academic performance.
If FCPS believes it is “equitable” to apply such an “equal outcomes” standard to the performance of FCPS students, then FCPS should also conclude that it is “equitable” to apply an “equal outcomes” standard to the performance of FCPS officials and employees. Under an “equal outcomes” job standard that is functionally equivalent to the “equal outcomes” academic standard, every FCPS administrator would get the same pay and promotion outcomes, every FCPS teacher would get the same pay and promotion outcomes, and all other FCPS personnel would get the same pay and promotion outcomes as their coworkers — regardless of the quality of their job performance.
It would be interesting to know how FCPS will explain to parents and students why it is “equitable” under the One Fairfax policy for FCPS to apply a different standard for outcomes for its administrators, teachers, and other staff than it does for outcomes for FCPS students, despite the functional equivalence of academic performance and job performance.
If FCPS indicates that the “equal outcomes” standard is also being applied to FCPS personnel, then Fairfax County taxpayers might wish to let the FCPS and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors know how they feel about whether it is “equitable” to taxpayers for FCPS personnel to be paid and promoted without regard to the quality of their job performance.
This article has been reprinted with permission from the The Bull Elephant
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