Equity-Equality

Equity will be achieved when everyone is treated justly according to their circumstances. So often, in our society, we speak of equality as the goal. But the real goal should be equitable distribution to everyone to fulfill their needs.

Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

An example of equality would be that a school district determines that all public schools would have computer labs with the same number of computers and hours of operation during school hours.

If looked at from the point of view of equity computer labs in lower income neighborhood schools might need to have more computers and as well as longer hours to be open since many students in low-income families do not have access at home to personal computers or the internet.

Time magazine, in its May 24/May 31, 2021 issue, devoted a major section to the problem of inequity and outlined 40 ways to achieve a more equitable United States of America. Teaching equity is not as powerful as modeling equity in our families, in our schools, in our society in general.