Education?

The schools keep getting budgets slashed here and there. WEEELL...let's say that the education system sucks in general. Irvington isn't perfect.

Neither are we.

Yes, many students in California do not perform as highly as those in FUSD. Even in FUSD, quite a few students are low performers. Now comes the question: here in Irvington, why do most of the resources go towards the low performers instead of the more intelligent people? (i.e. why can't freshmen take APs?)

The answer is simple: because the low performers, unfortunately, need more attention. They called low performers not necessarily because they're stupid and/or unmotivated, but chiefly because we're giving up on them. Then they don't know where to go. Yes, they piss us off. But few people have taught them how to take in what they learn. The "gifted" students are the ones who are motivated, who don't give up easily, despite the difficulties. In Irvington, and in all schools, actually, not all students are equal. The top academic students cannot expect everyone to perform at their level.

A VERY high-achieving freshman once said, "Honors kids need more attention. We're the ones more likely to succeed. We're the ones who will be shaping America in the future." True, high performers are more likely to succeed. True, high performers will be the ones with awesome jobs. HOWEVER, just because we score high doesn't mean we should look down on those who don't.

So now for a supposedly easier question: "Why can't freshmen take APs? Do we REALLY have to be stuck with all the lower-end people?" (asked by the same freshman mentioned earlier)
Truth is, you're not. So what if you already took geometry and precalc at ATDP in Berkeley or whatever. You may think you're ready for APs; academically speaking, you probably are. But there's more to APs than just your academic skills. And just because you took a bunch of hard classes during your summers doesn't mean you suddenly get how the educational system works. Even I don't fully understand how it works.

I've also seen what happens when people try to get too far ahead. Not pretty. Those people tend to think they're better than everyone, only to find out that they're not...

Always remember: we're not the only ones out here.