California government schools are failures. Now they are willing to admit it.
“Most California high school graduates did not meet the course requirements for either the University of California or California State University systems in 2023, according to data from the California Department of Education.
EdSource, which describes itself as the “largest independent newsroom focused on education,” analyzed that data and reported that 56% of the state’s high school graduates last year did not qualify for the state’s two university systems.
The systems share the same A-G requirements so the number of graduates not meeting the course requirements is the same for both. The difference is that California high school graduates need at least a 3.0 GPA in their A-G classes for UC colleges, or a 2.5 GPA in their A-G classes for CSU colleges.”
This explains why unions hate school of choice. If kids had an option to get a REAL EDUCATION, PARENTS WOULD RUN TOWARD IT. But in California teachers unions OWN the legislature—and the media refuses to report on the corruption and failure of government education. Now our kids, with diploma’s in their hands (which they can’t read) will have to compete for a job with Kamala at McDonalds/
Most California high school graduates failing to meet UC, CSU admission requirements
Steve Pastis, Visalia Times-Delta, 11/5/24 https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/california/2024/11/01/california-high-school-graduates-uc-csu-university-admission-requirements/75945631007/
Most California high school graduates did not meet the course requirements for either the University of California or California State University systems in 2023, according to data from the California Department of Education.
EdSource, which describes itself as the “largest independent newsroom focused on education,” analyzed that data and reported that 56% of the state’s high school graduates last year did not qualify for the state’s two university systems.
The systems share the same A-G requirements so the number of graduates not meeting the course requirements is the same for both. The difference is that California high school graduates need at least a 3.0 GPA in their A-G classes for UC colleges, or a 2.5 GPA in their A-G classes for CSU colleges.
Although Tulare County school districts are working to improve their numbers, local educators are not overly concerned about the situation.
“I don’t see it as a big problem,” Tulare County Superintendent Tim Hire said. “My preference would be that those percentages would be higher because I want as many kids as possible to have that door open for them when they graduate from high school.”
Hire said he also believes that there is value in students taking art classes or experiencing music or agriculture.
“When the state continues to add graduation requirements, like the ethnic studies course, and the soon-to-be-added financial literacy course, those courses take up space in a student’s schedule,” he said. “Many of our students want to be involved in non-core academic coursework, like art.
“Many of our students want to be involved in agriculture courses, and many of our students are involved in music, whether that’s marching band or jazz band or choir,” he continued. “As we add more graduation requirements, students are faced with the decision to take courses that meet the A-G requirements at the sacrifice of being involved in those elective programs.”
When faced with those decisions, Hire said, student may not take a course that satisfies A-G requirements.
He noted a local solution for high school graduates needing classes to qualify for UC or CSU colleges.
“The good news is that we have exceptional community college options locally,” he said. “Porterville College and COS, both in Tulare and Visalia, have great programs and offer great education at a fraction or almost no cost to our students when compared to a CSU or a UC.”
Tulare Joint Union High School District
Kevin Covert, assistant superintendent of curriculum, technology and assessment at Tulare Joint Union High School District, disagreed with the statement that 62% of the 2023 graduates from Tulare Union High School didn’t take the required courses to be admitted into the University of California schools.
“I’m going to say the percentage is correct, but the wording is wrong,” he said. “You may have kids that take the correct courses; they just haven’t necessarily completed all the necessary requirements. When you look at what the coursework is to meet the UC/CSU requirements, your students may take the courses, they may just not pass them all with a C or higher.
“Typically what happens in those situations, the ones that our kids kind of get hung up on would be algebra II or chemistry,” he continued. “They’re taking all the required courses, but the dealbreakers tend to be those two classes.”
The district is focused on increasing the numbers of students who will qualify for UC and CSU schools when they graduate.
“The vision for our district is that all of our students are college and career-ready,” Covert said. “So we have a lot of things in place that we are working with our students on to meet those goals.”
When administrators talk about students being college and career-ready, they also talk about being eligible to go to a junior college, he said.
“Even if those kids are not eligible to go to a CSU or UC straight out of high school, a lot of our students do go to a junior college,” Covert said. “Even if they qualify for a CSU or UC, they tend to go to a junior college first.”
Community college to the rescue
At College of the Sequoias there is a general education pattern that prepares students to be accepted into CSU, UC, private college, or out-of-state college, according to COS Superintendent Brent Calvin.
“A community college wipes the slate clean for anyone,” he said. “You come to a community college and all you’ve got to do is complete 60 units in the appropriate places. Sixty units and an AA degree with the right GPA, and you’ll absolutely be qualified to apply and be considered at any of the CSUs and UCs.”
Community college is the great equalizer when it comes to getting into colleges or universities, according to Calvin.
“To get into Fresno State, you’ve got to have so many units in Section A, so many in Section B, so many in Section C, and if you do that with a minimum GPA, then you’ll be accepted into one of the 23 CSUs,” Calvin said. “Probably 1,000 of our 2,000 graduates last year did so with an ADT (associate degree for transfer) that would get them guaranteed admission into a CSU.”
The UC uses a program called TAG (transfer admission guarantee), which is “a little bit different,” Calvin said.
“We have students that come here and then go to UCLA or UC Berkeley, or UC Merced,” he said. “You can come here, talk to our counselors, and take the classes that you’re going to need to make yourself competitive at a UC or a CSU, and then apply to a multiple of those schools.”
UC Scout
The number of high school graduates in Tulare County who qualify for US or CSU schools is below the state average.
“The state average right now is 52% and Tulare County is at 41%, so you’re not really significantly below, but definitely falling below the average of the state,” said Chelsea Boone, director of marketing and enrollment for UC Scout, a program of the University of California.
“There are a variety of factors but we do always see lower A-G completion rate among communities where there are more English learners,” she said. “We know that that can be a challenge when trying to compete or complete coursework at the same level as a student who spoke English throughout their entire life.”
The UC Scout program offers its courses free to California public schools.
“We exist primarily to support underserved students to meet A-G requirements,” she said. “We have 67 A-G approved courses and 28, as of right now, AP courses.”
Those courses are put into a learning management system called Canvas, which is provided to teachers and schools.
“We provide this curriculum, because we’re funded by UC, 100% free to California public school teachers,” Boone said. “They don’t pay anything. They just sign up with us as a credentialed teacher and we provide them the course that they ask for in this learning management system.”
However, if a student wants to take a UC Scout class directly, there is a $399 fee per course, because a credentialed teacher is required. Private or out-of-state schools pay $49 per course.
Boone advised students looking to attend a UC or CSU school after graduation to start early.
“A lot of times what happens is that students start preparing for college maybe in their junior and senior year in high school, but because a lot of these requirements are sequential, they haven’t started early enough,” she said.
