Why argue with a rise in good grades?

We learned this week that nearly half of US high-schoolers are graduating with not just an A here or there, but A averages. A new study finds that in 1998, some 38.9 percent of graduates hit that mark. In 2016, the figure rose to 47 percent.

But over the same period, SAT scores slipped. While not a perfect counterpoint, it suggests that something more than improved study habits is going on.

We’ve long known about grade inflation and its suggested culprits: the self-esteem movement, helicopter parents, entitled kids, lenient teachers, college pressures, even the Vietnam War (think draft deferments).

What may be less apparent are the costs. You’ll find a lot more of those A's in communities that are affluent and whiter, according to the study. Since GPAs still matter, that means low-income students and students of color may be at a disadvantage – widening the inequality divide.

But there’s another issue: When the brass ring becomes a quotidian credential, it diminishes genuine achievement and the requisite hard work. And as Gilbert and Sullivan put it in “The Gondoliers”: “When everyone is somebody, then no one’s anybody!”