<p>If the end were leading to better education, I would buy his justification. But filling AP classes full of kids who are getting 1s and 2s on the exam is not doing them any favors. Obviously, there is something seriously wrong with the quality of education in those classes. Calling them AP doesn’t automatically make them a place where students will learn more–I think it misleads them, so that the label becomes more important than the content. Escalante’s kids passed the AP in large numbers–that’s what made what he did so impressive, and important.</p>