As student academic performance plummets in California, school districts and colleges propose eliminating grades and testing rather than deal with root causes; critics label the effort a cover-up for failing school policies.
In November 2021, the University of California system announced it was abolishing SAT and ACT admissions requirements. In December, the California State University system followed suit and announced it was making the tests optional, and it is due to consider a proposal this month to abolish the testing requirements entirely as well.
For high school, the districts in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and Oakland announced in December that they would end the practice of giving ‘D’ and ‘F’ grades. The proposal is called "mastery-based" or "competency-based" grading, which aims to increase learning by removing the stress of failing marks.
Some critics of the proposals have called them “grade inflation” that coddles and does a disservice to students by not providing them accurate feedback on their shortcomings and the real world consequences of not completing work adequately.
Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California, offers a new take on the proposals and claims the real motive is to cover up the failings of schools and teachers.
“These school districts, teachers unions, and school boards all pretend like they’re doing it to take the stress off the kids, but that’s a big lie,” said DeMaio. “What they really want to do is eliminate any sort of accountability, because these grades and these tests aren’t just a reflection of whether kids are learning — they’re a reflection of whether schools are failing or succeeding,” he explained.
University of California and California State University admissions requirements stipulate that applicants must complete certain grade school courses with a C or better. About 59% of students met these requirements in the 2018-2019 school year, and only 46% of students are on track to meet the requirements in 2022 — which DeMaio labels a troubling trend that isn’t the students’ fault.
“It’s the politicians and the failed administrators who want to get rid of tests and grades so they aren’t exposed as failures,” noted DeMaio. “If colleges don’t accept students who fail, and you want to increase the amount of your students getting accepted, it seems like an easy and slimy choice on their part to just eliminate failing grades instead of teaching better,” said DeMaio.
DeMaio says that the way to restore learning accountability and improve teaching practices is to target the school boards and elect better school leaders.
“We need school board members who want to hold administrators accountable, not those that sweep failure under the rug and ignore parents,” said DeMaio. “That’s why we’re targeting school board races in the November 2022 election and we need your help,” he concluded.
DeMaio’s organization, Reform California, is helping parents statewide to organize and demand change. By partnering with local groups and policy think tanks, Reform California seeks to improve collaboration and coordination among various stakeholders who should work together to force changes in schools.
In addition to coalition building to put pressure on existing school board members to enact reforms on their own, Reform California is prepared to take the issue of school reform to the ballot box in the 2022 elections. To do this, they are actively working to recruit, train and support candidates for school boards across the state.
That’s why Carl DeMaio is asking for all concerned Californians to support Reform California’s efforts and join the fight today to restore learning accountability and fix school boards.
Join the Campaign: Restore Learning Accountability and Fix School Boards
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