School District 128 officials are proposing to drop the class ranking system at Libertyville and Vernon Hills high schools. That's it, just keep mollycoddling these kids to believe that out there in the big, bad world that there's no rankings. Somebody should pull rank on these boneheads.
District 128 officials aren't the first ones to go to this "everybody's special" philosophy and they probably won't be the last. Carmel, Deerfield, Highland Park, Lake Forest and Warren Township high schools in Lake County already have moved to this one-size-fits all system.
District 128 officials think that having class rankings puts Wildcats and Cougars at a disadvantage when applying for colleges and universities. The focus should be on grade point average, they say, because class rank only compares students to their fellow students. The logic is that elimination of class rank will improve students' opportunities in the college admissions process.
Well, if that's the case, just don't have them take the ACTs or SATs. Then they can get into college with their charm and good looks. It's not like there aren't rankings when they get into college. Or, how about job rankings, team rankings and military rank.
The Hound can't believe Libertyville and Vernon Hills high students are under-prepared and can't compete with the creme de la creme for the top spots at the nation's universities. Parents pay enough taxes to ensure that, don't they?
With no ranking, that means no valedictorian and nothing to work to achieve, except those straight A's and four-point averages in advanced placement courses. That'll show those college placement officials. And, it sounds like high school counselors won't have to do the math to figure out class rankings. Now, that's the ticket.
Its incorrigeable to believe that a students rank within his or her peer group is meaningless. If that child was "raised" and educated amongst the same group and had access to the same educational material their entire acedemic career, then they should be scruitinized for how well they learned and retained the information as compared to those around them. The problem really exists where all the students in a geographic area do not have equal opportunity and access to the same education based on a communities financial status I.E. North Chicago to Lake Forest. Those that have opportunities receive opportunities.
THE HOUND SAYS: Good points drew. The Hound wishes they didn't have class rankings when he was a pup. It would have saved being embarassed by being 271st out of about 400.