Clarence Page`s case against Education Secretary William Bennett`s high school core curriculum has several vapid arguments. One is that the program isn`t very good, and anyway, one in six schools already is using a similar one and a ”growing number . . . already appear to be putting such curricula into practice,” so obviously it`s unnecessary. Another argument is one that a nonblack critic couldn`t get away with: Minority (read ”black”) students simply can`t learn that stuff anyway.
He asserts it sounds good, but why learn algebra and trigonometry ”that most will find useless in life”? The underprivileged are never going to be engineers, scientists, skilled technicians; there`s not a chance. They don`t deserve one, evidently.
Finally, there is the strongly implied argument that it`s elitist. It will only benefit those already predisposed to academic learning, implying it`s unfair. It would be better if those who have the intellect to learn the more abstruse subjects were held back. That way we`d have a nice homogeneous class of inadequately educated, undisciplined egalitarian citizens. Just as we`re already getting!
