Boulder Eliminates Class Ranking And Valedictorian System--Competition "Unhealthy, Unfair"

"Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is."--The Incredibles

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"We have a responsibility and a goal of educating the whole child and not just coming up with this race for tenths of a percentage," said school board President Helayne Jones. "High school is supposed to be a time to try things out."

Getting rid of class rank, district officials said, should reduce the unhealthy competition for a high rank. And, without class rank, the valedictorian committee generally agreed that it no longer makes sense to continue the valedictorian system"--Boulder, 2007

Eliminating excellence is but one method employed by moonbats to bring everyone down to their level--and it is no surprise it is beginning in Boulder:

The race for valedictorian will end, starting with the class of 2010.

A Boulder Valley School District committee studying the issue agreed to mirror colleges by recognizing groups of high-achieving seniors with summa, magna and cum laude honors instead of crowning a single valedictorian.

The change comes as a result of a previous Boulder Valley decision to no longer calculate class rank.

"This honors more kids for academic achievement," said Fairview High School Principal Don Stensrud, who co-chaired the committee. "It gives kids something to strive for."
. . .
"We have a responsibility and a goal of educating the whole child and not just coming up with this race for tenths of a percentage," said school board President Helayne Jones. "High school is supposed to be a time to try things out."

Getting rid of class rank, district officials said, should reduce the unhealthy competition for a high rank. And, without class rank, the valedictorian committee generally agreed that it no longer makes sense to continue the valedictorian system.

Under the new system, the committee recommends that about the top 3 percent of students at each high school earn summa cum laude honors, 7 percent magna cum laude and 10 percent cum laude — with about 20 percent of each year's graduating class honored altogether.

In the movie The Incredibles, Helen (Elastigirl) and her son Dash disagree over the pursuit of excellence, and competition:

Helen: Dash... this is the third time this year you've been sent to the office. We need to find a better outlet. A more... constructive outlet.
Dash: Maybe I could, if you'd let me go out for sports.
Helen: Honey, you know why we can't do that.
Dash: But I promise I'll slow up. I'll only be the best by a tiny bit.
Dash: Dashiell Robert Parr, you are an incredibly competitive boy, and a bit of a show-off. The last thing you need is temptation.
Dash: You always say 'Do your best', but you don't really mean it. Why can't I do the best that I can do?
Helen: Right now, honey, the world just wants us to fit in, and to fit in, we gotta be like everyone else.
Dash: But Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of, our powers made us special.
Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is.

State GOP lawmakers agree--competition is better for the students (especially in light of what happens in the real world):

"The action in Boulder not only is a swipe at competition, which makes our economy go 'round, but also at academic excellence," said Sen. Josh Penry, R- Fruita, who is sponsoring the graduation-standards proposal with the GOP's Rep. Rob Witwer, of Genessee.

"It sends out a message to students across Colorado that academic performance doesn't matter all that much," Penry said. "That is precisely the opposite of what we should be telling our kids so they can compete in the 21st century economy."

"The gold medal winner in the hundred meters race at the Olympics is usually only a few hundreths of a second faster than the silver medal winner, and the silver medal winner is probably only a few hundreths of a second faster than the runner who wins the bronze," Penry said. "By the reasoning in I'm hearing out of Boulder, we should melt down all three medals and make one award to all the top finishers. That gets our kids nowhere."
. . .
Added Penry, "China and India are raising their standards while Boulder is dumbing down."