
A couple of years ago, the story of Stanley Zhong, **a whiz student with a 4.4 GPA and a 1,590 on SAT being rejected by 16 of the 18 colleges** he applied to, made national [headlines](https://us.list-manage.com/EYEu49b5dV8?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835). If you have heard of Stanley’s story, you must know that it did not end in victimhood or grievances. **Not only was Stanley hired by Google for a PhD-level position right out of high school, he and his parents have also continued to fight for justice in the court of law.**  
  
After a few years of searching and persisting, the Zhong Family has secured legal representation for ongoing cases against four of the 16 universities that unfairly rejected Stanley - **The University of California, University of Washington, University of Michigan, and Cornell University**. The lawsuits are brought by **Stanley Zhong and members of Students Who Oppose Racial Discrimination ([SWORD](https://us.list-manage.com/gHWIZ1jIOAQ?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835)).**  
  
Founded by Stanley’s courageous father Nan Zhong, **SWORD**, an “all-volunteer advocacy group focused on stopping racial discrimination in college admissions through litigation,” is now **seeking new members to strengthen its legal standing in the above-mentioned cases**. Specifically, SWORD needs **parents of Asian-American high schoolers (9th grade and above)** who plan to apply to one of the four colleges but do not wish to be subjected to the unlawful admissions policies and practices.  
  
**Notably, a SWORD member will  _not_  be named as an individual plaintiff or party in any of the four lawsuits.** There is no financial burden on members. SWORD is participating as an organization on behalf of its members who have been affected by discriminatory admissions policies and practices. While no individual member will be named, SWORD members’ experiences and information will be relevant to the cases and they help demonstrate the organization’s legal standing. While CFER is not directly involved in the lawsuits, **our alliance building work facilitated key connections between SWORD and public interest law organizations such as the Pacific Legal Foundation**, which is now providing legal representation to SWORD.  
  
CFER has followed the Zhong Family’s heroic journey since 2024. During CFER’s 2026 annual conference, **Nan Zhong received our annual “David-versus-Goliath” Award of Courage** for carrying on the fight for equality and inspiring others to join the pursuit of justice. **If you fulfill the requirements to become a SWORD member or if you know anyone else who does, can you please let us know so that we can connect you with SWORD and Nan as soon as possible?**  You can also sign up directly to SWORD through this [link](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqVnw3TlpG9WrZKZ0N1f3dFYfPjQODHQn4_V64QdMK9semfw/viewform) 
  
Thank you in advance for your attention and support!

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Join SWORD to challenge racial discrimination at four selective colleges!

If you are in San Diego today, I urge you to show up to the PUSD District Office this evening to help counter a shameful cancel culture episode coordinated by Just Education Collective. Please **wear red, blue and white or bring a small American flag to counter their attack on a Poway Unified teacher.** You are welcome to register to speak. Even if you don't speak, your presence alone will speak volume!

- **Address**: 15250 Avenue of Science, San Diego, CA 92128.

- **Time**: 6 - 7pm, Thursday, 10/08/2026 [Please arrive by 6pm! You can leave at around 7pm after the public comments session.]

A 6th grade language arts teacher at Bernardo Heights Middle School in the Poway Unified School District (PUSD), is under fire for showing a PragerU [video](https://youtu.be/3mJNPM2AdkU?is=pR1s21uT9pVKLLOB) on 9/11 recently. The video is fact-based and schools should be allowed to teach facts!

Yet, progressive activists are attempting to conduct a cancel culture episode against the teacher, alleging that the video she showed in a class is "graphic, biased and harmful." **They are trying to ban facts!** Operatives from far-left Just Education Collective are planning a blitz attack at the PUSD District Office this evening at 6pm. They want a public apology from the teacher, remove all PragerU and other non-progressive materials and double down on DEI.

John Stuart Mill once wrote: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing." The other side is sowing division and confusion, using the video a patriotic teacher played as a spring board to further indoctrination. It is important that we show up to support this teacher and the silent majority of PUSD stakeholders who love and appreciate America.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this and your support for America!

Sincerely,

Frank Xu

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Action Alert! Come support a patriotic teacher, facts and America at Poway Unified School District at 6pm today

Some encouraging news as we wrap up the first week of September! **On Wednesday (9/3), CFER joined Friends of Lowell Foundation, the Asian American Legal Foundation, and Connected SF in a  [lawsuit](https://us.list-manage.com/Nj9Kr4hB4tA?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835)  challenging the ethnic studies mandate adopted by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD)**.  
  
Filed originally by the Friends of Lowell Foundation, our lawsuit seeks to **challenge and invalidate SFUSD Board’s curriculum adoption procedures** as improper procedures in violation of the Brown Act, denial of parental rights in reviewing instructional materials, and unlawful use of restricted voter-approved funds. While the curriculum raised fierce opposition from parents and negative news [coverage](https://us.list-manage.com/SHr20joF7OB?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835), **the school board rushed to approve it in April 2026, merely nine months after SFUSD introduced an equally controversial pilot in July 2025.**  
  
Represented by **James Sutton of Rutan & Tucker LLP, the law firm which previously represented the Friends of Lowell Foundation in another successful lawsuit challenging SFUSD's elimination of Lowell High School's merit-based admissions**, this lawsuit is timely and important. With this new coalition of co-plaintiffs including state-wide advocacy groups and local grassroots organizations, we want to demonstrate the broad-based nature of the public outcries against both **the ideological hijacking of ethnic studies and SFUSD’s disregard for academic transparency as well as parental rights.**  
  
The lawsuit names as defendants: the San Francisco Board of Education, San Francisco Unified School District and SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su. Currently, SFUSD requires that **all ninth-grade students complete a two-semester ethnic studies course**. The adopted curriculum, entitled Voices: An Ethnic Studies Survey has met intense public criticisms for [slanting](https://us.list-manage.com/Y1LQQz98b1e?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835) decisively towards the progressive left.  
  
In suing the school district, we seek to challenge the legality and legitimacy of how this problematic curriculum was adopted. We will prevail in this pursuit. Please stay tuned with us so that we can update you on this case.  
  
Thank you for your continued support and trust!

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CFER joins the lawsuit against San Francisco Unified to challenge ethnic studies mandate

We have some terrible news on ACA 7 - the California Legislature’s latest attempt to take apart Proposition 209 in its important, educational provisions. **On Sunday (August 30th), the State Assembly  [voted](https://us.list-manage.com/r6d7AozB3W3?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835) 59-to-19 (1 no vote recored), along partisan lines, to approve non-substantive changes to the bill, following the State Senate’s partisan vote for it on August 27th.** This means that **ACA 7 will be placed on the state ballot in 2028** and it will be once again up to **Californian voters to decide whether or not race-based affirmative action in education should be legal**.  
  
Time and again, politically and ideologically progressive state lawmakers have tried to weaken California’s state constitutional guarantee of equal protection - codified via the historic passage of Prop. 209 in 1996. In 2014, **SCA 5 - a Senate-led attempt to repeal its higher education provisions - was defeated** in the State Assembly. In 2020, **Prop. 16** - the blanket repeal of Prop. 209 - **went down in flames as 9.65 million Californians said no** with their votes. In 2024, the **previous ACA 7 - another legislative measure to provide “research-based/ -informed” pathways to exempt Prop. 209 - also failed**.  
  
We believe that, **with hard work, persistence and sufficient awareness building, this new measure can be stopped on the ballot.** But **we need to get to work to educate Californian voters on the issue right away**! Six years ago, proponents of Prop. 16, from national politicians to corporate giants to Hollywood stars, mustered **a $31-million war chest to try to make discrimination legal**. There is no reason for us to believe that they won’t do it again. In fact, with growing grievances against the national political climate on the far left and their past failure of Prop. 16, we believe that **agents for racial spoils and preferences will double down their fundraising and campaigning efforts.**  
  
Unlike the other side, we have t**he truth, facts, and a growing majority of the people on our side**. And in contrast to the emergency situation in 2020 in which we only had a few months until the voters decided on Prop. 16, **we are on the job right now!** Our **CFER team has been working diligently since last year to bring awareness to ACA 7.**  
  
**You can help us and we need your help**. Help us spread the word on ACA 7’s progress with the following actions:

1.  **Connect us with local advocacy groups and voluntary associations** so that we can alert them to ACA 7. You can email me at  [wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org](mailto:wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org)for the connections.
    
2.  **Follow CFER and CFER leaders on social media** for future action alerts. Our X handles are:  **@CA4equalrights, @GailHeriot, @wu_wenyuan**.
    
3.  Make  **a tax deductible  [donation](https://us.list-manage.com/lJvoT29e0Ks?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835)  to CFER**  so that we can build up  **an effective voter education program**. With your support, we can grow our media presence and social media footprints. We can reach out to more voters and let them know  **what Prop. 209 is and does and what this repeal would mean for California**.
    

For the last six years, CFER has stood firm on the frontline pushing back against attacks on Prop. 209, in the court of justice and in the court of public opinions. We have taken public agencies to  [court](https://us.list-manage.com/7lxvSHAWb83?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835) to stop the abuse of taxpayer funds for racial discrimination. We have  [monitored](https://us.list-manage.com/tWGPwh5lbVr?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835)  the State Legislature and alerted the public to various dangerous proposals, many of which failed partly due to our efforts. We have  [published](https://us.list-manage.com/104F9WpWkmr?e=0111f1f5cd&c2id=32c78aa0f97a8d347253cfda069d9835)  hundreds of columns and opinion pieces, helping shape the public consensus on equality, merit and freedom.  **We could have not accomplished any of that without your continued support or encouragement.**  **Will you continue to support CFER as we continue to defend equal rights against the incoming threat of ACA 7 onto the state ballot?**  
  
Thank you in advance!

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Breaking Bad News ! ACA 7, another attack on equality, heads to 2028 ballot. There’s time but we need your help NOW!


You may have heard the name “Corey Jackson” from CFER’s previous communications. **Assemblymember Corey Jackson**, first elected to the State Legislature in 2022 and reelected in 2024, has been **a longtime foe to Prop. 209 and equality**. In 2023, Asm. Jackson was the leading author of the failed [ACA 7](https://legiscan.com/CA/votes/ACA7/2023) which had sought to provide a “research-based/ informed” exemption mechanism to Prop. 209. In 2025, he introduced the **new [ACA 7](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/06/10/rafael-perez-aca-7-is-a-pointless-rollback-of-californias-anti-discrimination-laws/), a partial repeal of Prop. 209 in its educational provisions.**

  

During ACA 7’s [hearing](https://youtu.be/k0msOROhKEk?si=OWjvsgVQBih1RNUM) at the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee on June 9, 2026, Asm. Jackson **went off with an emotional monologue when Asm. Steven Choi, a first-generation immigrant from South Korea challenged the notion of using racial preferences to address racial discrimination.** Asm. Jackson yelled,

  

“There is a difference between your experience and my experience. My ancestors didn’t come here by choice. They are not immigrants. They were forced here… My ancestors as well as our Native American brothers and sisters were systematically stripped from their culture, their history, their religion, and their language. It was systematically done and enforced by the Supreme Court and by this government, including the State of California… Ever since after, **institutions have systemically oppressed and marginalized black people**.”

  

Such an outcry on grievances and victimhood stands in sharp contrast to a shocking news story regarding a nonprofit organization founded by the Assemblyman. **Earlier this month, the Center Against Racism and Trauma ([CART](https://www.destroyracism.org/anti-racism-initiatives)), a Riverside-based boutique nonprofit [created](https://californiaglobe.com/fl/report-california-assemblyman-steers-6-million-to-his-own-nonprofit/) by Asm. Jackson, was [awarded](https://x.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/2091690523048480871) $6 million by the California State Legislature.** The generous grant, from taxpayers-funded General Fund, is supposed to help CART “**expand anti-racism programming and trauma-recovery resources in the Inland Empire**.”

  

One must ask: Where is the marginalization and where is the systematic oppression in this case?

  

To put things into perspective, CART was launched by Asm. Jackson in 2019 and started being active after 2020, seizing the racial-reckoning moment of Black Lives Matter. To accomplish its mission of fighting “against all forms of racism,” CART engages in “systems change,” “community action,” and “youth development.” The organization [defines](https://www.destroyracism.org/what-is-racism) racism as “[p]rejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” Its website also provides definitions of “anti-racism,” “white privilege,” “white supremacy,” white fragility,”... In the last few years, CART has [platformed](https://www.destroyracism.org/events) prominent “scholars,” including **Angela Davis, Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DeAngelo and Dolores Huerta.**

  

Notably, CART’s most recent 990 [shows](https://californiaglobe.com/fl/report-california-assemblyman-steers-6-million-to-his-own-nonprofit/) a $258,501 in revenue in 2024, a reasonable figure considering its small size and limited operational scope. Last month, CART hosted its annual antiracism summit [online](https://youtu.be/4ok5o6pn438?si=OBh04AY1zOa7TFgv), featuring Asm. Jackson as its keynote speaker. Reportedly, CART had spent [$44,720](https://x.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/2091690523048480871) on one of its previous zoom summits. In May, **Asm. Jackson, who [chairs](https://jackson.asmdc.org/committees) the California Legislature Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services** and sits on the Budget Committee, welcomed CART representatives to the State Legislature where they **received the “Nonprofit of the Year” Award.**

  

As the newest threat to California’s equal protection guarantee makes its way to the Senate floor for a vote, the State Legislature’s staunchest opponent to Prop. 209 has been found to be in active collaboration with **an ideologically aligned nonprofit that just became the recipient of $6 million in public funding.** Did the organization bid for the slush fund - **courtesy of California taxpayers including many immigrants whom the Assemblyman disparaged as insufficiently marginalized**, on the basis of **merit? Grift? Collusion?** You can draw your own conclusions.

  

One thing is clear. **Absent any state funding support and against the political, cultural and corporate establishment, as we faced in 2020 in the “No on 16” battle, CFER is further resolved to defend Prop. 209 and equality.** We have not stopped and will continue to raise public awareness on why California and America need equality. You can support us with a kind [donation](https://www.cferfoundation.org/support) today. You can also [join](https://members.cferfoundation.org/) CFER as a valuable member!

  

Thank you in advance!

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Public service or else? Six million taxpayer funds awarded to nonprofit founded by Assemblymember Corey Jackson


Parents and community members in the San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) achieved another great victory in local organizing recently. On August 6th,**the school board  [voted](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/08/10/san-dieguito-board-passes-resolution-asking-uc-system-to-reinstate-standardized-tests-in-admissions/) 4-0 (1 absent) to adopt a district-wide resolution, urging the University of California (UC) system to reinstate standardized testing for undergraduate admissions in STEM fields.** With the passage of such an unprecedented statement, **SDUHSD has allied itself with both the UC Academic Senate and nearly 2,000 UC professors** who [signed](https://mindingthecampus.org/2026/07/07/restoring-academia-requires-an-unlikely-alliance/) a petition for the same purpose.  
  
On August 12th, five UC regent candidates - for either first appointment or re-appointment - [appeared](https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive) before the California Senate Rules Committee for their confirmation hearing. In a surprising reversal of stances, f**ormer UC Regents Chair Janet Reilly - who was instrumental in approving UC’s test-blind plan in 2020 - went on the record to say that the Board of Regents is “completely open” to considering reinstating the tests.** Other candidates also weighed in with more favorable views (than previously) towards standardized testing and academic revival. For instance, first-time appointee Regent Rusty Areias noted that he has gotten many messages from “physics teachers” concerned about **students not knowing “basic algebra”** and “social science teachers” worried that “**kids can’t read and write**.”  
  
One might rightfully conclude with a certain level of optimism about the future of higher education in California. But it is important to bear in mind that progress does not happen in a vacuum. Six years ago, UC Regents capitulated to the political winds of racial reckoning and disregarded its own Academic Senate in eliminating tests for admissions. This week, current and incoming regents changed positions because they are responding to media and public opinions fallouts from the faculty petition.  
  
**Just as individual UC professors have forced these higher education administrators to contend with academic declines as a result of the test-blind movement, parents and local advocates are behind SDUHSD’s passage of the test-reinstating resolution.** For months prior to the Board’s vote last week, local stakeholders had put together compelling evidence and lobbied the school board trustees diligently. To effectively curate and disseminate information, organizers, notably those from the Asian American Parent Alliance of San Diego, launched an informative [website](https://bringbackthesat.com/) entitled “Bring Back the SAT.” The website documents quantitative evidence of academic declines at UC and provides **a customizable resolution [kit](https://bringbackthesat.com/resolution-kit)  for other school districts.** The resolution kit includes: a board resolution template ready for any school board to adopt, a background data brief, sample Q&As, full citable source list, and framing references for local media outreach. **Not only has this grassroots initiative succeeded in facilitating the local board resolution, it has also offered tangible resources for parents and advocates elsewhere!**  
  
Friend, may this encouraging story from the San Dieguito Union High School District become a solid beginning for a much-needed, bottom-up movement for reclaiming merit and equality in education. If you are interested in learning more, please visit **[https://bringbackthesat.com/](https://bringbackthesat.com/).** You can also reach out to CFER directly with your feedback, observations and suggestions.  
  
Thank you!

Proactive local organizing prompts school board to adopt a resolution for bringing SAT/ACT back to UC admissions

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