Lab Liberty

Tag: education

  • Is Neutrality Really a Bad Thing?

    by: Nemo

    Apr. 9, 2026

    With Lab’s newly formed neutrality policy officially being published, there are a handful of mixed responses. What is shocking to me is how many people are upset about it, and claim that it pushes certain ideologies, and silences others. I find that extremely hard to believe simply because that is not true.

    Before I say anything further, we should review what the neutrality policy is in the first place.

    The neutral-teaching policy is a policy that was released at Lab a few days ago aiming to remove opinions in teaching environments. This means that teachers cannot implement personal ideologies into their curriculum. This does not mean that teachers aren’t allowed to have opinions and keep them to themselves, and it certainly does not mean that students cannot discuss things amongst each other. It just means that teachers cannot share their opinions on political topics in class or at school. 

    I can say with full confidence that the students who claim that this is somehow silencing or harmful are simply mistaken or don’t understand the policy. If anything, this policy aims to build free-thinkers that don’t rely on others to think for them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it should already be encouraged in the first place. 

    You know there is an issue with free-thinking in a system when students go to teachers for opinions. I have seen this myself many times, and it’s incredibly damaging. It destroys the intellectual potential of any student, and leads them to ask for approval before forming an opinion. That is why we need this policy, and why it is rational to support it. With this policy implemented, students remain free to discuss topics themselves, hang posters to protest things going on in the world, and everything else they could do before. It just means you can’t expect to get politically educated by your teachers, which, honestly, you absolutely should not have been able to do in the first place. You learn about the world from living in it or watching the news, not from asking others what is going on and how to feel about it.

    Additionally, before jumping to conclusions about the policy and spewing inflated misinformation, read the words on the page.

  • Budget Deficit Irrelevancy

    by Oliver Wilson
    May. 10, 2024

    On Friday, May 10th a group of high schoolers gathered to protest the new budget cuts announced on Tuesday, May seventh and its subsequent plan to phase out the German program among other decisions like no longer offering Sailing as an official sport.

    During lunch at 12:15, the protestors marched in a loop, from the cafeteria to what I presume to be Judd and back two times in an attempt to have their message reach the administrators. This demonstration, however, will prove to be ineffective and the demands of the demonstration are not attuned to the reality of the reasoning for the decisions that were made.

    The decisions outlined in the recent email certainly do seem dire, and for some, unacceptable. Additional important context is needed, though. First, the unfortunate fact is that the University of Chicago is in a large amount of debt, a difficult position for any institution. Further, this debt is most likely one which is lended to the school and paid back with interest, meaning that the amount owed is actively increasing, perhaps even compounding. This fast rate of increase is likely the reason for these emergency cuts.

    Secondly, the budget cuts are necessary. In fact, I had experience in my Sophomore year attending sailing, one of the sports being cut. Despite the admittedly fun time that I had, the sport was clearly a costly endeavor for the school. On a given day the team would travel to Colombia yacht club in a luxury charter bus, and it was not uncommon that even a fifth of the bus would be full. With a lazy framework for sports travel and low attendance, the cost for upkeep was simply unnecessary. As for the German class, keeping this program was also an unnecessarily large expenditure of finite resources. I don’t have any formal citations, but I am sure that German amongst least popular languages offered. Given this assumption, it is not difficult to understand why an administration might point to the many other language options available for students and make the decision to cut the least popular option, leaving students with plenty of alternatives.

    When debt rapidly collects, someone must make the decision to come through and compromise, even when this compromise entails some sacrifice. Ultimately, this cut is one that is responsible, and in the best interest of the rest of the students, ensuring that students at Lab have a long and fruitful education in the many years to come.