The DC Council might do away with licensing exams for social workers over perceived racial bias. Minorities can’t pass it, so it must be racist.

Councilman Robert White would eliminate the exam for entry and Master’s level licensure applicants.

There is a shortage of social workers, but replacing them with unqualified people might not be a good idea.

“What the exam is doing is de-diversifying the profession,” said Catholic University professor Michael Massey, who has watched students of color succeed in class and fail the exam.

My question is, why didn’t the professor prepare them for the exam, which allegedly tests them for the knowledge they must have? Does the test have to be eliminated or modified in some way?

The exam is multiple choice, the least challenging type of test.

Massey claims the exam doesn’t capture their culture and real-world experiences. He says they’re getting rigorous preparation at school.

Others say it’s not the exam but systemic educational challenges leading up to it that are the issue. What would those issues be? This could be an indictment of the DC K-12 schools.

Between 2018 and 2021, 76.2% of white test takers passed the bachelor’s level exam for the first time. Native Americans passed by 63.6 percent, and  59.6% of Asians passed, while 52.8% of Hispanic applicants passed the first time. Only 33% of black test-takers passed.

Without knowing their reading comprehension ability, they shouldn’t make any decisions. Maybe we need more assimilation.  Politicians have a way of making education worse.