For Immediate Release

December 12, 2022

SAN DIEGO, CA – December 12, 2022- On December 9, Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) sent a formal letter to the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees arguing for the maintenance of CSU’s admissions standards including a four-year high school math requirement. Prompted by a recent proposal to eliminate the requirement to advance equity and access, CFER urges the CSU Board of Trustees to uphold merit and standards.

“The Board is essentially kicking the can down the road by getting rid of a rigorous and empirically proven yardstick for undergraduate admissions, which would not solve the real problem of underperformance,” commented Frank Xu, president of CFER. “This is yet another effort by the education establishment to attack merit and quality of education under the disguise of equity.”

In the letter, CFER acknowledges the concerning realities of public education in the Golden State.

“Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 23% of California’s 8th graders are proficient in math. While learning gaps are debilitating for low-income students (14 points behind the state average), black students (22 points behind) and Hispanic students (13 points), all California students are lagging behind compared with their peers in other states and with their predecessors three years ago. The California Smarter Balanced results reveals a 6% decline in math scores among California’s public-school students in 3rd through 8th grades and in 11th grade.”

However, we strongly oppose CSU’s proposal as a futile attempt “to cover up disastrous declines in K-12 education and placate radical ideologues and activists” because “[s]ystematic issues of non-performance at the K-12 level need to be addressed through policy reforms in grade schools to improve teacher performance and increase rigor.” While it is true that academic learning gaps in California have been exacerbated during the pandemic, education institutions should work to identify best practices and strive for excellence instead of lowering standards.

The Board of Trustees at CSU will meet during January 24th and January 25th to discuss the proposal. CFER will closely monitor the publicization of its meeting agenda and inform the public on ways to engage with the Board in the coming weeks.