A Glimpse of My primary & Secondary Education

Educational racism doesn't exist, they say.  Every child has the same opportunities.  Every child is encouraged to reach their full potential. This is a glimpse into the discrimination I faced coming up through the (mostly) Orange County Public School system.

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I remember being in Kindergarten and being placed in a remedial reading group. I was an avid reader, even then.  My mother didn't know what the school had done until I was well into my teens.

I remember being in 3rd grade and having to take an assessment test because we'd been traveling for a year and the school system wanted to hold me back a grade.  I tested two grade levels higher than average.

I remember being in 4th grade and transferring from my predominantly Black, low-income school to a white middle-class area.  I walked into the classroom and was given a worksheet to practise my '0' times tables.  During third grade, we were doing long division with dividends in the thousands.

I remember being in 5th grade and being pulled aside after a reading comprehension assessment to be told I had a 12th grade reading level.  This was after being made to take the test twice because they didn't believe the results the first time.

I remember being in 8th grade and my science teacher telling me I wasn't 'mature enough' to take Biology in high school, and instead placed me in Earth/Space Science, despite my 'A' average the entire school year.

I remember being placed into technical preparatory classes in high school... until my GPA forced them to place me on an academic track.

I remember being in high school and having my counselors actively give me hard time for wanting to sign up for Honors classes.  AP lessons were never mentioned.

I remember my high school counselor encouraging me to apply to the local community college because she didn't think I would be accepted to a 4-year university. I was accepted to four four of the five universities I applied for, including Princeton (which I didn't).