A High School Diploma in Oregon Can Now Be Had Even if You Cannot Read, Write or Count

A high school diploma in Oregon can now be had even if you cannot read, write or count. The state's competent authority has ruled that students no longer need to demonstrate writing skills or a knowledge of mathematics in order to proceed to higher education.

Officials of the Oregon Department of Education and members of the state board of education have declared that the requirement to pass standardised tests or complete advanced assignments harms historically marginalised students, that is, chiefly Black and Hispanic ones.

Until 2029 at the very least, Oregon high school students need not prove basic proficiency in reading, writing or mathematics in order to graduate.

Among their arguments, the bureaucrats cited the higher share of Black students, students learning English as a second language and students with disabilities among those attending intensive writing and mathematics classes in the upper grades, which they must do in order to prove, in the end, that they deserve a school diploma. In the officials' view, the need for extra classes deprived such students of the chance to take electives, yet there is no evidence that the additional load in lessons where they were taught to read, write and do sums has helped them in any way later, at work or in college.

It seems to me there is no greater discrimination than the official admission that a certain group of people is, in principle, incapable of learning mathematics or reading.