by Nicole Wesche, staff writer
On May 2017, Dr. Michael J. Martirano was named interim superintendent of the Howard County Public School System. Martirano believes that the students should be the center of all decision-making, and is committed to giving every child the opportunity to succeed. This coincides with his emphasis on ensuring equity for every child. Equity is one of his main values that has been implemented into every classroom throughout Howard County.
Equity can be defined as giving everyone what they need to be successful while equality can be described as treating everyone the same. The goal of equality is to promote fairness, but this is not necessarily fair because not everyone starts from the same level of expertise. Some need different resources in order to reach the same finish line which is why Dr. Martirano pushes for equity throughout HCPSS.
“Equity is giving each person what they need. Each person has different strengths and weaknesses and being equitable allows us to meet the individual needs of our students,” explains Ms. Galbreath, a River Hill Assistant Principal. “Equality would be providing the exact same supports to every student whether they need it or not.” On the outside, it may seem unfair to give those who have more resources less help than others, but, in fact, the playing field is just being leveled.
Laura McAllister, a River Hill senior, defines equity as “everyone is given an acceptable chance to achieve greatness, even if it means giving them an extra push. Equality is treating everyone the same.” The difference between them comes as equity provides everyone the various resources that they need to succeed while equality gives everyone the same resources and help.
Ms. Galbreath states that at River Hill, “We are now more purposeful about being equitable.” emphasizing that this will be accomplished by making an effort to build relationships with students. Galbreath also expresses “we are working to make sure that we are treating students and staff as individuals and are providing the supports each person needs to be successful.”
But, despite these promising changes, students think that equality is much more prevalent than equity specifically at River Hill. “Everyone has the same resources to succeed,” senior Sonia He claims. “At least from what I’ve seen, there isn’t anything pushing the students who aren’t achieving at the same level to do more, so the ‘over-achieving’ kids take all the opportunities and keep rising” while others who are less motivated continue “to sit back and not take advantage of opportunities.” So, promoting equity should give the students who need more of a push the resources they need in order for them to rise to the same level as other achieving students.
But, the emphasis on equity is still new and River Hill students can still learn so much. “It is our diversity is what makes us great. Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses and we need to tap into everyone’s strengths,” Ms. Galbreath continues. “Students should be proud of what they are good at and celebrate the strengths of others.”
Overall, there have been no significant changes at River Hill so far due to the shift in emphasis from equality to equity. However, in the future, changes may be coming in order to ensure that every student across Howard County has an equal chance to succeed.