In 2021, Oregon passed Senate Bill 744, eliminating the requirement for high school students to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing, and math to graduate. Initially paused during the pandemic, this policy was extended in October 2023, when the Oregon State Board of Education voted to continue suspending the “Essential Skills” requirement through the 2027–2028 school year.
The current governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, is a Democrat. She took office in January 2023, succeeding Kate Brown, a Democrat and the governor who signed the original bill (Senate Bill 744) in 2021 that paused high school graduation’s math and reading proficiency requirements.
As Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 2021, Kotek voted in favor of SB 744. She argued that the “essential skills” requirement placed too much emphasis on standardized testing, which she believed detracted from instructional time. Kotek stated, “We don’t need to keep adding more standardized testing beyond necessary to monitor student progress. We need to let teachers teach – and our students will benefit from more instructional time.
This means that for nearly a decade, students in Oregon can receive a high school diploma without proving they can read, write, or do math at a high school level. The justification? “Equity.” The reality? Academic sabotage, particularly for Black students.
This is how some policymakers lower educational standards in the name of social justice
And they call this equity.
The claim is that standardized testing creates barriers for marginalized students — especially Black, Latino, and low-income kids. So rather than fix underperforming schools, train better teachers, or support struggling students, Oregon decided to lower the standard and call it fairness.
That’s not equity. That’s surrender. That’s giving up on the very children who need the most support.
This policy is not just misguided — it’s a total insult to Black people.
It sends the message that we’re not capable of meeting academic standards, so instead of fixing the system, they erase the benchmarks. That’s not liberation. That’s humiliation. It’s a slap in the face to every Black parent who pushes their children to strive, to excel, and to break cycles. It tells our kids, “We don’t expect much from you — so here’s a diploma anyway.”
This is how Democrats dumb down our children in the name of social justice — not by helping them succeed, but by pretending success doesn’t require skill.
They claim standardized tests and proficiency requirements are racist. But what’s truly racist is assuming that Black children can’t rise to the challenge. It’s racist to lower expectations for our kids while maintaining them for everyone else. This isn’t a policy of equity — it’s a quiet act of educational segregation.
Let’s break down who this benefits:
- Not the Black student, who now enters college or the workforce completely unprepared.
- Not the parent, who believes a diploma means their child is ready for life.
- Not the community, which continues to be underserved and under-equipped.
The only winners here are failing school districts, lazy administrators, and policymakers who’d rather feel good than do good. They don’t have to raise standards, train teachers, or fix broken classrooms. They just pass kids along — and then pat themselves on the back for being “progressive.”
This is not progress. It’s policy malpractice.
There’s a quote that speaks directly to this moment:
“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.”
That’s exactly what Oregon has done. They replaced accountability with applause, and academic excellence with political optics. They’ve built a system where optics matter more than outcomes — and where Black students pay the price.
If we truly believed in Black excellence, we wouldn’t be lowering the bar. We’d be building bridges to help our children reach it.
That means better instruction, culturally competent curriculum, investment in literacy, math tutoring, mentorship, and real parental engagement — not policies that hide failure behind buzzwords like “equity.”
Because expecting Black children to read, write, and succeed is not racism — it’s respect. And anything less is institutional betrayal.
What Oregon has done isn’t education reform. It’s educational surrender. And we must not stay silent while they sell Black potential short in the name of political correctness.
If we don’t speak up now, we’re not just losing standards — we’re losing a generation.
