Diversity-driven educational systems across the U.S., from California to Baltimore, are failing students at an alarming rate. These systems prioritize ideology over rigor, resulting in dismal proficiency rates, fraudulent diplomas, and a cycle of poverty and unrest. The root causes are cultural and systemic—not systemic racism—and the solution lies in restoring reason, merit, and accountability.

California’s Reading Crisis: A Sobering Reality

The *Los Angeles Daily News*, August 28, 2017, reported that 75% of Black boys in California schools failed to meet state reading standards, with nearly 80% failing by fourth grade. The gender gap is stark:

More than half of Black boys scored in the lowest category on the English portion of the test, trailing their female counterparts. The disparity reflects a stubbornly persistent gender gap in reading and writing scores that stretches across (non-White) ethnic groups... Of all ethnic groups for which the state collects data, Black boys trailed Black girls by the widest margin.

While some focus on the gender gap between Black boys and girls, the broader issue is that most are functionally illiterate. Girls, on average, score better than boys, but the problem is far more complex. As discussed in The Role of Western Culture in Pioneering Modern Science and Technology, intelligence variations—based on Howard Gardner’s seven definitions of intelligence—show that boys’ IQs exhibit greater variability than girls’. Boys are more likely to be both Nobel Prize winners and below-average performers, correlating with issues like impulse control and crime. Most criminals are men, as are most physics majors—a biological, not discriminatory, outcome.

The crisis extends beyond Black students. In the LA Unified School District, which is 9.2% White and 73.7% Hispanic, the *LA Times* (August 24, 2016) reported that only 29% of students were proficient in math and 39% in reading/writing, despite a 70.2% graduation rate in 2014. Statewide, the *Los Angeles Daily News* and *The Press-Enterprise* (August 24, 2016) noted that 52% of students failed English and 63% failed math. The 2024 CAASPP data shows little improvement: only 30% of Black students met English standards, and 18% met math standards. Proficiency means passing; non-proficiency means failing. These graduation rates are fraudulent, sending functionally illiterate students into the world, as one educator noted: “The vast majority of our students are going out into the world without the literacy skills they need.”

Baltimore: A Parallel Failure

The situation in Baltimore mirrors California’s failures. As detailed in Baltimore Schools: A Case Study in Diversity-Driven Educational and Social Failure, Fox Baltimore reported in 2017 that six middle schools had zero students proficient on state tests, and one-third of high schools had zero students proficient in math. By 2023, 13 Baltimore high schools had zero students proficient in math, with 74.5% scoring at the lowest level. The 2024 Nation’s Report Card showed only 13% of fourth-graders and 16% of eighth-graders proficient in reading. Yet, Maryland’s 2024 graduation rate was 87.6%, revealing a stark discrepancy: most diplomas are fraudulent, setting students up for failure in college and beyond.

Reading disparities in Baltimore are equally dire. Nine out of ten Black boys were not reading at grade level in 2017, a trend that persists. These educational failures fuel social breakdown—Baltimore’s violent crime rate, with 343 murders in 2017, reflects a cycle where illiterate students drop out, lack opportunities, and turn to crime, perpetuating a violent subculture.

Cultural and Systemic Roots of Failure

These disparities are not due to systemic racism but to cultural and systemic factors. In California, the focus on diversity and multiculturalism—often at the expense of rigorous education—has led to dismal outcomes. The same is true in Baltimore, where political priorities like funding anti-gun marches over heating schools exemplify mismanagement. Nationally, the rejection of reason and merit, as discussed in the Western culture article, undermines educational systems. Anti-reason ideologies—like the Gaia hypothesis, which portrays Earth as a living system—reflect a broader trend of nature worship over empirical science, influencing educational policies that prioritize ideology over knowledge.

In Virginia, where I’ve documented similar issues, flooding schools with non-English-speaking students strains resources. National Review (September 22, 2016) estimated that current immigration policies cost taxpayers $300 billion annually. Arizona saved $300 million a year by reducing non-English speaker costs through immigration enforcement, as noted in this report. Here, diverting public dollars to support failing students is theft from American children who need those resources.

Solutions: Merit, Reason, and Accountability

To address these failures, we must reject diversity-driven ideologies and restore merit-based standards. First, curtail Third World immigration, particularly from nations whose immigrants are low-achievers, and deport all illegal immigrants. This would save billions, redirecting funds to struggling American students. Second, end affirmative action and multiculturalism, which prioritize race over merit and hinder assimilation. Schools must treat all students equally, enforcing discipline and academic rigor without tolerating disruption or criminality.

Finally, education must return to its roots: knowledge and reason, not social engineering. The Western cultural synthesis—Greek logic, Judeo-Christian ethics, and the Age of Reason—built modern science and education by prioritizing merit and individual liberty. Today’s diversity-driven systems, from California to Baltimore, mirror the failures of non-Western societies that reject these principles, as seen in Latin America and Africa. To break the cycle of poverty and unrest, we must reject ideology and uphold the standards that made Western education successful.

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