Published November 13, 2023
Action Alert in San Francisco Unified School District: Defend Merit-Based Admissions and Education Excellence
On November 14, 2023, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Board of Education will hold its regular meeting in which a proposal to change admissions requirements in Lowell High School and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (RASOTA) will be discussed. This proposal is yet another example of the education bureaucracy’s shameless attacks on merit-based public education and the ominous war on tests. In the name of prioritizing “historically underserved students,” the recommended changes in admissions process would certainly hurt the academic rigor and education excellence at SFUSD’s selective high schools including Lowell.
by
CFER
Dear San Francisco Unified parents, community members and concerned citizens,
On Tuesday (November 14, 2023), the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Board of Education will hold its regular meeting in which a proposal to change admissions requirements in Lowell High School and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (RASOTA) will be discussed (Item # G1). Please attend the meeting and speak up to oppose this proposal, as it would replace rigorous test-based admissions with a system combining “a minimum GPA and student interest.”
Recommended by the SFUSD High School Task Force, this proposal is yet another example of the education bureaucracy’s shameless attacks on merit-based public education and the ominous war on tests. In the name of prioritizing “historically underserved students,” the recommended changes in admissions process would certainly hurt the academic rigor and education excellence at SFUSD’s selective high schools including Lowell. Doing away with admission tests, ostensibly for ideological purposes, also ignores a growing body of empirical research showing standardized testing as the most reliable predicator for student success.
On the other hand, focusing on a minimum GPA would make the admissions process less transparent and fair, due to varying standards of grading across schools and widespread grade inflation. If anything, the admissions change proposal would accelerate SFUSD’s descent into mediocrity, considering that fewer than half of its students are proficient in math and only five in ten meet standards for English.
We urge you to attend the November 14th SFUSD Board Meeting at 6: 30 pm at 555 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. Please make a request to give a public comment regarding the proposal (Item G1). You can also contact your board commissioners to voice your opposition and share your concerns.
Going forward, we encourage you to continue to get involved at the local school district, monitor new developments and speak up. The future of local education and our next generation needs to be vigorously safeguarded.
Thank you in advance!
Californians for Equal Rights Foundation
Contact:
Wenyuan Wu
wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org
About Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER):
We are a non-partisan and non-profit organization established following the defeat of Proposition 16 in 2020, with a mission to defend and raise public awareness on the cause of equal rights through public education, civic engagement and community outreach. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to amend its constitution by passing Proposition 209 to ban racial discrimination and preferences. Prop. 209 requires that “the state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” CFER is dedicated to educating the public on this important constitutional principle of equal treatment.