Saying that Trinity students study hard everyday is an understatement.
More than 70% of students are involved in a Trinity sponsored athletic team. Some travel on the weekends to forensics tournaments and still have homework to do when they return.
They may go to the Habitat House on Saturday mornings, volunteer at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, or pick up litter on the beach.
These activities and actions are what separate great students from average students; the rewards include acceptance to a preferred college and scholarships.
However, many Trinity students may not be eligible for one of these rewards: Bright Futures, a scholarship that Florida residents can use for any instate university, public or private.
Why would these students not be able to receive a reward for their merit?
The answer is that they don’t have the “right” skin color.
The scholarship may have to change, so it is not a strictly merits based scholarship. It will be forced to consider the aspects of national origin and race, no longer allowing being blind to these factors.
All of this is the subject of an investigation that the United States Department of Education is pursuing.
“[The US Department of Education is] investigating allegations that the state of Florida utilizes criteria for determining eligibility for college scholarships that have the effect of discriminating against Latino and African-American students on the basis of national origin and race,” said the department in a statement.
The scholarship is becoming more elite as students must have higher grades and standardized test scores with new measures passed by the state legislature.
Some argue these requirements favor students who have have better access to private schools, test preparation, and other tools.
However, defenders of the program say that it is strictly a merit-based scholarship.
This investigation is leading to a larger debate that our country has been having for quite some time: the role of diversity in colleges.
While it is true that minorities are disproportionately impoverished, that is still a broad statement. Poor whites and affluent blacks exist.
For a better investigation, the department should only look at socio economic status, not race.
It is true that money usually has some type of influence in the quality of education one receives.
Rather than compensating for the lack of education impoverished students receive by giving them priority, it would make more sense to give them a higher quality education.
The state should look at ways to improve education to ensure an equal playing field so that everyone can raise his or her test scores or grades if he or she so desires.
School districts could offer flexible choices in programs and schools. Schools could receive more funding for specialized or smaller classes or even offer SAT preparation classes.
Maybe the state shouldn’t put the FCAT at the center of education. There are countless ways to improve education.
All of these services would cost more and be challenging to implement, but the cost would be worth it to improve Florida’s quality of education.
Florida is already mocked by the rest of the nation for our poor quality of public education.
It’s no light task but one that ought to be confronted. With these “equality solutions,” we are simply sweeping the issue of poor education under the rug.
Education improvement is a useful, long-term solution, while quotas will just cause arguing and lower standards.
Let’s take the solution that benefits everyone, not a few.
