Wednesday Morning in Ms. Johnson's Class

It's a beautiful day in the middle of May in the Dudley Doright Elementary School here in Everywhere, USA. Ms. Johnson calls the rolls and then hands out an exam to all of her students. Now this is no ordinary exam mind you, this exam will determine which of these children will graduate 6th grade and move on to Junior High school.
Well if you had to get out and go to school, you couldn't have asked for a better day than this one. The Sun is shining, the temperature is nice and the trees are full of singing birds. The grass is as green as any golf course and little Johnny is really pumped about getting to join his older sibling that is already in junior high. So with a good feeling, Johnny starts his test. It's a long test, just over a hundred questions. But the importance of it is not lost on any of the students. This will decide their future in a way and they know it. The girls all know that by getting into junior high they will be able to earn more in baby sitting fees. All the boys know that with this promotion they also will benefit in higher wages for their lawn cutting and leaf raking. Wow, this is an important exam.
After a couple of hours the teacher, Ms. Johnson, tells the students to hand their papers to the front. At first glance she is pleased that it looks like most every student answered all of the questions. So she dismisses the class so that they can enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.
Ms. Johnson works tirelessly grading all of the papers and finally has all of the results. As is expected, some students didn't pass and will have to stay in the 6th grade but the majority will go on to junior high school and on to bigger and better things. While grading the papers though Ms. Johnson notices something. All of the students that "failed" the test has blonde hair. What?! We've all heard the jokes about blondes but she can't believe that not a single child with blonde hair passed the test! All of the students that have dark hair, passed this exam. Confused about why this might be she says something to the principal about this. He too is astonished that the blonde children all failed to make the grade required to move up to the next grade and a better earning potential that they all were looking for.
Now before the teacher, Ms. Johnson gives the students the results she is again surprised that the pass or fail results came down to hair color. But the next day when all of the students returned to school to find out if they passed or not are about to get a surprise. The principal is in their classroom and talking to Ms. Johnson. Both of them have a very serious look on their faces and the students become a little concerned. Soon the principal addresses the whole class and says that they all will have to repeat the 6th grade. What?! The murmuring and gasp of the students is heard all the way down the hall of the school. How can this be?! Some of the girls are crying and the look of amazement is on the faces of the rest of the students. Surely somebody passed the test. But according to the principal, all of them will have to repeat the 6th grade and he doesn't want ot hear anything else from the students on the subject. The kids are devastated. Gone are the dreams about all the neat things they could have bought with the extra money they would have earned had they passed the test and moved on to the 7th grade. Those dreams are being replaced with the nightmare of having to go through another year of elementary school and not being able to charge more for their services of yard cutting, leaf raking and babysitting. Man, this is really upsetting.
Johnny had already planned on the yards in his neighborhood that he would be able to earn more money from when he did the chores given to him by his neighbors. He knows that the higher grade level in school translates in to higher wages for him and he too, just like the other children is feeling a sense of despair. But Johnny has never been one to just let things go by without asking questions and finding out how and why things work. And he isn't about to let this go by without finding out what the scores were on his test and the other children's.His attentiveness in class has made him a favorite student of Ms. Johnson and Johnny see that maybe if he would just ask her, she would tell him.
As Johnny walks up to Ms. Johnson's desk she sees him and knows what is coming. None of the other students even asked what their score was, but she knew he would. The other kids just resigned themselves to what the principal had told them. Johnny wasn't like that. He wants to know everything and the thought of not being able to earn more money during his summer break, is driving him even more. So when he asked Ms. Johnson what his score was she goes ahead and tells him that he scored a 97. 97?! He asked "isn't 97 a passing score?!" Ms. Johnson says "yes but that not all there is." Johnny says "all there is"?! "What do you mean Ms. Johnson?" It is then that she tells him that actually the majority passed the test and it was only the minority that failed. "Then why can't we that passed move on to the next grade Ms. Johnson?" She says "Johnny, all of the dark haired children passed the test and it was only the minority of kids, the blondes, that failed." Johnny then ask "so what?" Ms. Johnson says "the principal is afraid that the parents of the blonde children will sue the school and he doesn't want that." "So he has decided that since none of the blonde kids could pass the test, then he wouldn't allow any of the kids to pass.
Well the story doesn't end here but it might as well. You see, Johnny's dad is a firefighter. A first responder. The best of the best. Johnny's dad is a man that is willing to sacrifice his safety for the lives of others that he doesn't even know. You'd think that the city that employs Johnny's dad would want the best and brightest they could get in positions of authority but that's not so. But just like Johnny, his dad also took a test that would have allowed him to earn more money and would go a long way in providing a better life for the whole family. But since there was a minority that couldn't pass the test, the city decided to avoid law suits filled against them because of alleged discrimination. It doesn't make sense for Johnny not to benefit from his studies and it certainly doesn't make sense for his dad not to also be promoted. That's life in America.