Fair vs Equal

It has come to my attention that most people confuse the terms fair and equal.  I can see how one might confuse them, they are similar and yet very different.  As a special education teacher I was intimately aware of the difference and it was my responsibility to educate others, mostly other teachers, about the difference.

Equal is pretty straightforward.  Everyone gets the same.  Equal would be my 100 lb. German Shepherd Dog getting a cup of food and my 15 lb. Yorkie mix getting a cup of food.  Doesn’t make good sense, but it is equal.  In education equal would be to eliminate any accommodations that students with disabilities are afforded to level out the playing field.  Every student would have the same amount of time and the same number of questions, it wouldn’t be fair but it would be equal.

Fair is giving my 100 lb. shepherd 2 cups of food while my little Yorkie gets 1/2 cup.  Fair is giving students what they need in order to succeed.  Would one think of withholding insulin from a diabetic or an inhaler from an asthmatic? Never!  Giving a diabetic what they need is no different than giving a student with learning disabilities extra time for a test or help with reading.  Special education does not make it easier for a student with disabilities, it makes it equal, and that is fair.