To: The Dallas Morning News 
Date:  December 13, 2009
Subject: Advanced Placement classes in high school 
Result: censored 

 

Dear Editor,

Concerning your recent article about how there are inequities in what Advanced Placement options are available to high school students in wealthier, versus poorer school districts and areas, with all kinds of charts and graphs illustrating the discrepancies, I have an idea on how to fix the problem. Do away with all Advanced Placement classes.

As a baby boomer, I and my generation grew up without any Advanced Placement courses, and yet we managed to produce large quantities of very smart and accomplished people - many of whom cannot now find jobs that match their capabilities. If there were any particularly smart people in those days, they either found a private way to expand their knowledge and abilities, or sometimes they skipped grades and went to college sooner than their peers. As it stands, even without Advanced Placement courses, students today have far more opportunities and options than we had back then. For us to be spending, I'm sure, large amounts of money we don't have to enable a relatively few students to start making the big bucks earlier than they otherwise would have is ridiculous.

Right now we have a system where every time somebody thinks of a new way to spend money in education, then we're obliged to spend it. We've gone far beyond what is necessary to fulfill the original mandate in our country to make sure everybody gets a basic education. We keep looking for more and more money, but we need to control the costs. Advanced Placement courses are a luxury we can't afford.

Thank you, John Vehon