According to this article in the East Bay Express:

Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students.

The reason for the elimination of the science labs – they are clearly racist and discriminate against black and Hispanic students. You see, the problem apparently is the fact that of the total number of students in the lab classes, only 17.5% are black and 13.9% are Hispanic. And what do these numbers show? Well they show that there is a racial achievement gap.

So in true progressive/liberal fashion instead of devoting more resources to help the black and Hispanic students do better in the sciences they have decided – under the High School Redesign plan – to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

This once again shows that the real progressive/liberal agenda is not the betterment of society, but rather the “equalization” of society. This equalization has been given many names and has come in many forms – affirmative action, spreading the wealth, spreading the misery, etc.

These equalization attempts have only proven to weaken society. First, those that are hard working and perform above average are punished when they are forced to slow down. Secondly, those that are not working as hard or are not performing above average are never forced to change their situation. This causes wide-spread mediocrity and eventual dependence on the State for care and feeding.

I have said this in numerous other posts, but the truth of the matter is that we need to ensure that people excel and achieve not based on the lowest common denominator, but on the highest standards possible. This leads to innovation, hard work, and the betterment of the country. There are always going to be those who cannot keep up or refuse to exert the effort necessary – but then again someone has to make the fries, build the roads, and pick up the trash.

The Mandarin

The Mandarin, whose real name is 吏恆, joined the order in 1309, and introduced the Gormogons into England during the 18th Century.

The Mandarin enjoys spending time with his pet manticore, Βάρἰκος, or Barry (who can be found in the Bestiary). When not in the Castle…well, frankly, nobody is quite sure where he goes.

The Mandarin popularized the fine art of “gut booting,” by which he delivers a powerful kick to the stomach of anyone that annoys him. Although nearly universal today, the act of gut booting or threatening someone or something with a gut boot is solely due to him.