At a moment when the Trump administration is attacking our schools and institutions — including a proposed 15% cut to Department of Education funding — it is more important than ever that we raise the standards of public education. We should be investing in our schools, supporting a rigorous curriculum that sets up students for future success and gives kids opportunities to excel in the subjects they love.
That is why I firmly oppose the recent San Francisco Unified School District proposal — now paused — to lower its grading standards. Under the “grading for equity” plan, a score of 80% would be an A, and 21% would be a passing score, a D. The plan would have also allowed students to retake tests and proposed excluding factors like effort and participation from final grades. District staff claimed that the proposed shift was meant to emphasize mastery of content and “to make grading practices more accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational,” according to The Standard.
Such an absurd lowering of standards would do students a disservice. And not only is this approach wrong on the merits, it’s been shown to be ineffective in raising outcomes for students. In San Leandro, which implemented similar changes in 2016, lowering the standards for grading hasn’t led to a significant reduction in disparities. Recently, I spoke out against the Palo Alto Unified School District’s plan to take away honors biology after already cutting honors English — moves I fear will have negative long-term impacts on all students.
As a proud graduate of public schools in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, I am lucky to have had teachers who encouraged me and saw my potential, even when I struggled. I am where I am today because my teachers held me accountable for poor performance.
At my most recent town hall in Bucks County, several of my teachers were in the audience. It was a powerful reminder of how they helped me. I still remember blowing off an assigned reading in social studies in the fourth grade. A teacher sent a note home saying that I was not doing my work. I still remember my embarrassment on seeing the disappointment in my parents’ faces. Let’s just say that did not happen again.
When I didn’t do well in English class in the seventh grade, it prompted my mom to sit at the kitchen table at night with notecards to help me improve my vocabulary. After studying hard, I was placed in ninth-grade honors English. My teacher, Mrs. Raab, helped me publish my first opinion piece in the local paper, The Bucks County Courier Times. I felt like my words mattered.
This is what it looks like when parents, teachers, and schools hold students to higher expectations. It’s the opposite of a dangerous trend we are seeing in schools today — what advocates of removing honors classes call “delaning.” I call it an assault on excellence and our students’ potential. And I’m not alone. In reaction to the Palo Alto decision, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he wished his school had more AP and honors classes. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.) said removing honors classes will hurt working-class students.
When I heard of SFUSD’s absurd plans, I thought of my immigrant father, who came to America for the chance of a better future. I was taught that excelling in school was the path to better opportunities.
Yes, there are serious inequities in education that we must address, but punishing high-achieving students isn’t going to solve them. In fact, several studies have found that delaning can hurt the students it’s intended to help.
Some who support delaning and lowering the grading standards argue that wealthier students have an easier time getting into college, so making these changes is only fair.
Having studied at Yale Law and taught economics at Stanford, I don’t deny that there are some advantages for kids from more privileged backgrounds.
But for every wealthy, connected kid who glides into the best schools, there are thousands who earned admission the hard way. Allowing kids to scrap and claw for high grades in honors and AP classes will help them compete in the future with those who come from more privileged backgrounds.
We need to support students who simply outwork others. We also need to teach students to take a bad grade as a motivator to study harder. I am lucky that my public school teachers didn’t give up on me when I struggled. Instead, they challenged me to reach my potential. I want that for all American kids.
We will not discover and develop tomorrow’s Einsteins and Edisons by lowering academic standards for all. We must help America’s kids succeed — not by leveling down, but by building up.
Ro Khanna, a Democrat, represents the 17th District of California in the House of Representatives.