With the report cards that went home this past Friday in Fayette County, there was included a form to be filled out by all public school students to newly identify the race and ethnicity of each student.

This is a new federal guideline from the U.S. Department of Education “to provide a more accurate picture of the nation’s ethnic and racial diversity.” But to what end?

Upon looking this up further on the Dept. of Education’s website, I found that these new designations were being used to report “aggregate information to the government for funding and evaluation purposes, as well as civil rights compliance.”

They (the school district and state) are also “required to maintain this information about each individual in case a civil rights investigation surfaces.”

I found that if a parent or student refuses to give this information that the school can make its best guess based on appearance of the student, previous knowledge of the student, or past records that may give a hint as to the ethnicity/race of that student.

The student or parent always has the right to check and verify, or correct the school’s assessment after their initial refusal to comply.

But the government has determined that it is preferable to have complete data (even if it is a guess) rather than missing data (due to a parent’s refusal to divulge their child’s race).

Does anyone else see something very wrong with this new policy?

I remember that, prior to now, identification of one’s race when applying to school was always OPTIONAL, and certainly was not subject to an outsider’s interpretation should I exercise the option to not identify.

The government titles this new implementation “Managing an Identity Crisis.”

Well, I suggest that as long as you are an American attending public school in the United States that is all the government is required to know.

The funding passed on to state and local government should be passed along to the children of America, equally, based on the population numbers in a given jurisdiction.

Who cares what race or nationality they are? Why should that matter to those in Washington, D.C.?

A question was asked and answered on the website that I found truly telling of my problem with this new policy: ”How do I know I won’t be discriminated against after I’ve told you I belong to a minority group?“

The answer goes on to explain that this is exactly why we need to maintain better racial and ethnic data about our students and staff. And that this data will not be reported elsewhere ... etc.

I would like to know the answer to a slightly different question, however: How do I know I won’t be discriminated against after I’ve told you that I belong to a NON-minority group?

Will the schools where the majority of students are white or non-Hispanic get the same funding opportunities as those with a more diverse racial population?

Or will this become another way the government tries to make things more “fair” by legislating it rather than distributing the funds equally to all, regardless of race or ethnicity, and let the local districts judge how it is to be spent.

I can guess that all of this is being done in the name of fairness and equality. However, fairness and equality is not something to be legislated by our government.

People are so caught up with ensuring that all is fair and equitable in our world that they create a world that is just the opposite.

Now we live in a world where we feel entitled to everything, no matter how much or how little effort we expend. Just because I am black, or Asian, or white, before I even open my mouth, because of legislation like this, I deserve something more (or less) than someone else. What is fair about that?

You cannot make this world a better place, a fairer place, a more equitable place, by giving more or less money or opportunity to any one person because of the way they look or where they come from.

You cannot achieve it in a corporate environment, you cannot do it in a family environment, and you certainly cannot achieve it with federal regulations and policies.

Fairness cannot be forced, it cannot be mandated. The expression, “life is not fair,” is not just something your mother tells you when you claim to be left out, it is a reality that cannot be changed by acts of Congress.

Teaching our children accountability, selflessness and the rewards of hard work no matter where they come from or what they look like is the best gift we can give in the name of bettering this world.

Instead of forming another educational program of entitlement, I would love to see some sort of incentive program put into place by the government that gave more funding or more benefits to educational jurisdictions that actually earned it meritoriously relative to everyone else.

I have had enough of discretionary funding based on achieving nothing. What a waste. What are we teaching our future generations if we continue to give something for nothing?

Wake up, America. Using our racial heritage as a means to categorize and sub-categorize us into those who get more funding from the government is demeaning to us as a nation, and will not improve the level of education of our children.

Incentive-based learning, and rewarding performance over ethnic and racial standing is the more equitable path. It is also the path that will teach self-worth and the pride and accomplishment that only comes from hard work.

I cannot even begin to fathom how many years of work and money and time went into implementing another worthless federal policy enacted to perpetuate fairness that will ultimately result in mediocrity.

What a waste — we are so much better than that.

Beth Pullias

Peachtree City, Ga.