Fewer Students will be “Made in the CSU” If Math/Quantitative Reasoning Requirements Increase
As of January 2020, the CSU has
postponed a vote until 2022.
The California State University (CSU) has unveiled a proposal to add a fourth year of math/quantitative reasoning to freshman eligibility requirements. That’s more math/quantitative reasoning than the University of California requires for applicants.
The CSU Board of Trustees will hear this proposal at their upcoming meeting on November 19th. Already, an array of business, civil rights, community organizations, and K-12 school districts have come together to raise serious concerns about the proposal.
There is little evidence from the CSU that such a change to eligibility requirements is necessary, and there has been no broad-scale consultation or partnership with California’s K-12 school system regarding the readiness of high schools to deliver on any expansion of the college preparatory curriculum known as A-G. Today, over 60% of Black, Latinx, and Native American California high school graduates are effectively ruled out from applying to CSU because they attend under-resourced high schools that do not offer enough opportunity to complete the A-G courses required for admission. Adding to the A-G requirements will only further constrain access.
If this proposal is enacted, there will be serious equity consequences, since Black, Latinx, Native American, and low-income students are too often served by under-resourced high schools that do not offer the A-G course sequence equitably.
As a result of limited capacity, the CSU has been raising the bar on our talented students seeking their rightful spot at a CSU campus by requiring higher GPAs and higher standardized test scores. This proposal to add another requirement to hard-working, capable students only serves as an enrollment management strategy and is in direct conflict with the CSU’s open-access mission.
Take Action!
Are you a CSU student or alumni? Sign the petition standing with the CSU students in opposing this forthcoming proposal.
Share the Tweet below using the hashtag #CSUAccessDenied
“California students work hard to earn a spot in college! But the Cal State will close its doors to talented college-ready students if it continues to raise its math/qualitative reasoning admissions requirements. #CSUAccessDenied“
Over 90 business, civil rights, community organizations, and K-12 school districts are gravely concerned or opposed to the CSU’s forthcoming proposal to add a fourth year of math to the freshman admission requirements:
California Legislators
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of State Alex Padilla
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond*
Assemblymember Jose Medina, Chair, Higher Education Committee, Sixty-First District, Riverside area
Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, Seventieth District, Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbor area
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, Thirty-First District, Fresno area
Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes, Forty-Seventh District, Inland Empire
Assemblymember Luz Rivas, Thirty-Ninth District, Los Angeles San Fernando area
California Latino Legislative Caucus
California Legislative Black Caucus
K-12 and Higher Education Entities
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Association of California School Administrators (ACSA)
California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO)
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA)
California Faculty Association (CFA)
California School Boards Association (CSBA)
California State Student Association (CSSA)
California State University, Dominguez Hills – Associated Students, Incorporated
California State University, Los Angeles – Associated Students, Incorporated
California State University, Pomona – Associated Students, Incorporated
California State University, Channel Islands – Associated Students, Incorporated
California Teachers Association (CTA)
Fresno Unified School District Board and Superintendent Robert Nelson
Los Angeles Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified School District Board and Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar
San Bernardino City Unified School District Board Member, Danny Tillman
Santa Ana Unified School District
Superintendent, Ward Andrus, Central Union High School District
Superintendent Simon R. Canalez, Brawley Union High School District
Superintendent, Mike Matsuda, Anaheim Union High School District
Superintendent, Vincent Matthews, San Francisco Public Schools
University of California Student Association
Vista Unified School District
Community & Civil Rights Organizations
10,000 Degrees
A Black Education Network
ACLU of Southern California
ACT for Women and Girls
Alliance for a Better Community
Alliance for Children’s Rights
Asian Americans Advancing Justice- LA
Barrio Logan College Institute
Black Students of California United
BLU Educational Foundation
California LULAC
Californians for Justice
Californians Together
Canal Alliance
Career Ladders Project
Center for Leadership Equity and Research
Center for Urban Education
Chinese Progressive Association
Coleman Youth Advocates
Community Coalition
Concilio de Padres de Highland Park
Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (C.O.P.E.)
Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM)
Desert Song Group
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Eastwind Consulting
Ed 100
Educators for Excellence
Equal Justice Society
Faith in the Valley
Families in Schools
GO Public Schools
Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition
InnerCity Struggle
Khmer Girls in Action
Kid City Hope Place
Latino Equality Alliance
Latino/a Roundtable of San Gabriel & Pomona Valley
Latinos in Action
Los Angeles Urban League
Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation
Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF)
Mission Graduates
NAACP of Pomona Valley
Opportunity Institute
Parent Organization Network (PON)
Partnership for LA Schools
Promesa Boyle Heights
Reading and Beyond
Resilience Orange County
Southern California College Access Network
Somos Mayfair
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Stockton Schools Initiative
Students Making a Change
Students for Ed Reform
Teach for America-Bay Area
Teach for America-California Capital Valley
Teach for America-Los Angeles
The Campaign for College Opportunity
The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles
The Education Trust West
The Village Method
Umoja Community Education Foundation
University of California Student Association
UnidosUS
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
United Way’s Young Civics Leaders Program
Watts/Century Latino Organization
Young Invincibles
*Verbally expressed concerns
Read more
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