Mother of god.
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White student made co-valedictorian with black student, despite having lower GPA
- Thread starter Piecake
- Start date
Mother of god.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
I'm mixed on this.
Grades should be private, but then how would you ever really know if the right person is valedictorian? You could easily game the system especially if you knew the right people.
At the same time if you want to expose grades do you just have to challenge who's valadictorian to get them exposed?
I'm conflicted.
Grades should be private, but then how would you ever really know if the right person is valedictorian? You could easily game the system especially if you knew the right people.
At the same time if you want to expose grades do you just have to challenge who's valadictorian to get them exposed?
I'm conflicted.
boiled goose
good with gravy
In the case of honors like this, an external party can validate (judge?) and grades still kept private.
Skellig Gra
Member
Should be easy to sort out once the grades are revealed to a neutral party.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
That's not actually private though if someone else sees? Even if it's just a neutral 3rd party?
Idk how else you'd do it though. Plus someone has to see them to make the call in the first place.
I would assume the school only had so many AP classes and the black student took all of them and white student didn't or something similar.
In my school AP classes could take your GPA over 4.0. Small towns may only offer a few.
Otherwise I dunno, but I hope it's true. If only becuase it'd be an awful and sad lie.
Big Baybee
Member
Mississippi, eh? I believe it.
Septimus Prime
Member
GPA isn't that granular, so it's not really much of a stretch to imagine two people having the same score.
It could easily be provided to a neutral third party at each candidate's discretion. And if they don't provide it, then they don't get the title.
Private doesn't mean it can't be volunteered. For example, when you apply for college, you tell them your GPA and most likely provide a transcript for the to verify it and/or apply additional weighting. But if you don't apply, well, then no one gets it by default.
It could easily be provided to a neutral third party at each candidate's discretion. And if they don't provide it, then they don't get the title.
Intheflorsh
Banned
Personally revealing your grades to other people =/= having the school reveal your grades without consent
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
If the school district is racist, it'll be easy enough for them to change the grades to make the gpas match. Without access to the other students unaltered report cards and full academic record, it'll be impossible to tell.
I work data at a school district, I would be able to tell if the school monkeyed with the grades because I can see all of the academic years. Not sure if there's a neutral arbiter like that in that district, so it should be no problem for that school to make the records show whatever they need it to.
I work data at a school district, I would be able to tell if the school monkeyed with the grades because I can see all of the academic years. Not sure if there's a neutral arbiter like that in that district, so it should be no problem for that school to make the records show whatever they need it to.
Deuce Deuce
Member
You lost me. I didn't mention the student body.
I'm saying there's no point in highlighting achievement if no one knows what that achievement is. A relative measure can be used if it'd be less invasive.
But they'd be validating an honor based on grades generated by the entity you implicitly don't trust.
I honestly don't think designating a class valedictorian needs to involve neutral third parties and top security measures.
This isn't the Homcoming King/Queen.
You don't vote on valedictorian. It's an honor granted based on final GPA.
spiderman123
Member
We had a co valedictorian. If I recall there were also other merits built into the choice. It was 2 Asian Canadian kids that got it.
My graduating class had three or four.
I think if it was a concern, the parent should have went to the school for clarification - though I don't think the school should be giving out the grades of students to people who aren't their parents.
Seeking monetary damages? For what exactly?
This looks frivolous at first glance. I guess if more info surfaces we'll find out.
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
I'd agree for most school districts... But districts with a history of racial discrimination? I wouldn't mind. And it's not that hard.
BlazinSkatinAxel
Member
SAT scores... Etc. Tiebreak. Honors courses.
Your Entertainer
Member
The competition is fierce.
I was our valedictorian and there were three saluditorians right below me. Competition was cutthroat and parents can get very invested. the three saluditorians all went to prestigious private schools/one ivy. Hell, the person in fifth went to Yale. I think that was a crazy competitive academic year. All with tons of ECs, perfect ACT/SATs etc.
At bigger schools I could easily see many valedictorians like in college.
I was our valedictorian and there were three saluditorians right below me. Competition was cutthroat and parents can get very invested. the three saluditorians all went to prestigious private schools/one ivy. Hell, the person in fifth went to Yale. I think that was a crazy competitive academic year. All with tons of ECs, perfect ACT/SATs etc.
At bigger schools I could easily see many valedictorians like in college.
The achievement is they had the best grades. Your position honestly makes no sense. Anyone who isn't a valedictorian had lower grades. The bar is higher than they are.
A lawyer once told me that monetary damages basically represent the amount someone would have to pay you to make the bad thing okay. So in this instance I would assume it would be "How much is it worth it to you for me to spoil your child's graduation and hard work with racism"
Septimus Prime
Member
Mine, too. Anyone with maxed out GPA would automatically be a salutatorian, but we only had one valedictorian, and that person needed to be nominated.
I mean if it is true that they gave a girl co valedictorian just because she is white that really sucks and diminishes the other girl's accomplishment by a whole lot.
It just seems kind of unlikely to me.
Deuce Deuce
Member
Best grades is as much of an achievement as fastest time in a race, best data bandwidth, best gas mileage, etc. It means almost nothing without some form of relative measurement.
Frozenprince
Banned
The school district isnt desegregated till last year. And now for the first time in 110 years, the black student has something happen to her that's never happen before.
That's pretty sus shit right there. You're telling me not ONE other graduating class in 110 years had two people at the top with identical GPA's?
That's pretty sus shit right there. You're telling me not ONE other graduating class in 110 years had two people at the top with identical GPA's?
No.
I guess on her resume she would have to put "co-valedictorian"and that sucks? Doesn't make sense because it's still a great accomplishment.
But again what would stop racists administrators from falsifying the grades they send to the neutral authority? How would they know they were false and who would empower them to investigate?
And wouldn't money spent on this be better used addressing the racism that impacts all students of color and not just the one with the best grades? That would also address this issue. It just seems inefficient and needless.
Frozenprince
Banned
Why? This district didn't desegregate till LAST YEAR.
CornBurrito
Member
Ok but Yaboosh can't fathom that students might talk and compare grades casually. This black woman must simply be racist against whites.
Like others have said it's very easy to figure out among students who has the highest gpa and the highest overall grades. Students talk and freely admit how high they've gotten. If the school could not and refused to show that the gpas were identical then BS took place and they refused to allow a black student to be the only valedictorian. Schools know to the decimal point what those grades are when everything is calculated. There are database systems that tons of schools across the country use that calculates it for them in addition to doing it manually. Ties can happen but it's very easy to show it was a tie if that is true.
CornBurrito
Member
Oh boy oh boy. Minority groups LISTEN THE FUCK UP. Have a grievance with your school/employer? SHUT THE FUCK UP. Just deal with the local injustice because it is a waste of money and resources (I'm white btw, but I know exactly how it feels to be the target of discrimination). Best invest in things that will improve the living conditions of all minority groups (as determined by me).
Lol, this is bizarre.
They're grades. Not hot laps. Not gas mileage. It's personal information. Knowing the grade that was the best means literally nothing. It offers nothing to other students they could use to increase their grades.
Get A's in everything. End of strategy meeting.
The two salty white parents at my middle school would have loved to have this opportunity. They even tried to bribe the teachers so a dirty spic immigrant like me didn't win over their white girls. And this was in middle school where valedictorian means absolutely shit. So I can definitely see some fuckery happening when the stakes are higher. Hope the family can figure out if foul play actually happened but if the school was complacent that would be hard to prove.
Makes sense.
Violence Jack
Member
My high school graduation had two valedictorians with equal GPA. I would know because I was .03 points away from being up there with them.
It happens, but since it's Mississippi, I'm not sure what it was.
It happens, but since it's Mississippi, I'm not sure what it was.
That isn't even close to what I just wrote or the point I'm making.
We're discussing the general concept of neutral oversight of the honoring of a valedictorian. Not the merits of this lawsuit or the merits of any other lawsuit based on claims of discrimination.
Deuce Deuce
Member
Can you elaborate?
Darryl M R
Member
My graduating class was about 60 students and the top students all knew each other GPAs for the most part. Like we are applying to colleges together and talking about scholarships.
Mississippi? I'm not surprised.
Mississippi? I'm not surprised.
boiled goose
good with gravy
UnemployedVillain
Member
People in the top 5% have most definitely asked each other about their GPAs to know exactly where they stand
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
Where do I start?
1. It wouldn't stop administrators but it would make it much more difficult because they would have to falsify records every year for four years then figure out who the black competition is and falsify those records for four years. Almost impossible.
2. See above. It would be archiving data for four years and performing an audit only when cases like these arise.
3. In terms of money, it's very likely the district has an sis (my low income district does) so it's just collecting the data at the district or state level and archiving. Not very expensive. So you can do that for trouble schools and districts and still have money for your utopian and vague dream of ending racial discrimination somehow.
I didn't say do nothing.
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