When Ethnicity Trumps Student Achievement

Re “Dreams Lead to Sage Hill School,” June 4:

The article on Sage Hill private school was interesting, but early on I was put on guard by the word “diversity.” We learned that straight-A student Beatriz Arreola was going there on a scholarship and that in exchange she was providing “what the school desperately craves: diversity.” I wonder how she feels after reading this? Did they give her the scholarship because of her credentials and grades? Or because she had a Hispanic name and was from a working-class Santa Ana neighborhood, thus being one piece of the diversity equation?

And speaking of diversity, there is only one way to determine how well the diversity game is being played--use of a quota system. It’s affirmative action all over again. Then there was one parent from Newport Harbor High who lamented about the money Sage Hill was taking. She thought it could be better spent at the public high school. What she and so many other liberals ignore is that for 40 years we spent billions of dollars of federal money on public education--and things have gotten worse year after year. More money is not the answer!

But the topper was what happened on the first day, with the lineup where students were asked to step forward or back depending on their skin color. I really think that everyone there knew what color their skin was before lining up. What liberal teaching manual came up with this? What an insult.

Bob Franz

Placentia