Calif. School Chief Candidate Says Professors Must Teach Math, Not Exclude Students
California superintendent candidate Richard Barrera urges universities to support struggling students, not exclude them from college.
2 min read
California superintendent candidate Richard Barrera has called on university professors to help students catch up on basic math skills rather than exclude them from higher education, rejecting a return to standardized testing requirements like the SAT. During a Sunday interview with NBC LA’s Conan Nolan, Barrera firmly stated he would not support bringing back SAT requirements for schools within the University of California system.
Professors Should Teach, Not Exclude
Nolan asked Barrera why he would not consider reinstating standardized testing, especially after professors from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley expressed concerns that some incoming students lacked fundamental math skills, including the ability to work with fractions.
“Absolutely not,” Barrera was adamant. “So math teachers at UCLA and Berkeley and every place else, part of your job that you get paid by the taxpayers to do is to teach our kids.” When pressed for clarification, Barrera emphasized that students who had overcome significant barriers to attend college needed support, not exclusion.
“Listen, we’ve got students who are coming up from incredible experiences, first generation students overcoming so many barriers to be on the campus,” he explained. “Those students are capable of learning quickly. What they need is a little support to be caught up. What they don’t need is to be excluded.”
UC System Abandoned SAT Requirements in 2020
The University of California system stopped requiring standardized testing, including the SAT and ACT, in 2020, largely due to concerns that the testing standards unfairly disadvantaged Black, Hispanic, and low-income students. However, even as professors report a growing number of students unprepared for college-level academics, college applicants are reporting higher GPAs, raising concerns about grade inflation in high schools.
Barrera’s Background and Race
Barrera currently serves as president of the San Diego Unified School Board and senior policy adviser for special projects at the California Department of Education under State Superintendent Tony Thurmond. He is running against Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw to be Thurmond’s successor.
Source: Daily Wire
