Portland High School eliminated their practice of computing class rank. The idea is that they will put a new policy in place in time for sending out transcripts of seniors applying to college. An example of a different kind of policy is to have summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude instead of specific ranks for everyone.
The reason why they suspended the class rank system: honors and AP classes counted for more than "general" classes. This was criticized as being discriminatory against minorities, because minorities are disproportionately represented in general classes.
I think honors and AP classes should count for more. I think this discriminates against people who don't do well academically, and this discrimination is exactly the purpose of class rank: do distinguish students from each other based on their academic achievement.
The problem is not the class rank system. The problem is that minorities are less likely to succeed in honors and AP classes. That is what we should be trying to fix.
And we should also remember that the measure of one's ability to do well in school is not the same as the measure of the value of what one contributes to society. A lot of the things someone can do to make a difference in the world have little to do with school performance.
