Greetings, Dear Reader,
Today’s a short one, but a dooz.
(Recall my column this week on how to create a credentialed class of dumb radicals.)
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Today’s newsletter continues below
UC SCHOOLS PROUDLY GRADUATE IDIOTS
Somehow the foremost expert on the UC school system combined these two ideas within sentences of each other:
What has made the University of California exceptional is its commitment to increase access without sacrificing excellence. In recent years, California has proudly defied a national trend: On average, about 40 percent of its students are the first in their families to attend a four-year college. More than half qualify for free tuition. The percentages of underrepresented students have crept up, through a variety of initiatives. The California Dream Act gave undocumented students access to financial aid, as well as in-state tuition. Students on University of California campuses may struggle with basic math, but they are graduating at record rates.
And which mighty intellectual put these ideas together and got them published in The New York Times opinion section?
Miriam Pawel’s bonafides read like a progressive liberal’s wet dream. She’s a “Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.” OooOoOOooooo. In case you don’t know this, I’ll clue you in: Several reporters who list themselves as Pulitzer winners aren’t actually named as a Pulitzer awardee. These are more often than not “staff” awards. Miriam is no different.
Pawel was also a “distinguished fellow” at Harvard. oooOOoO AhhhHHhhhh.
Her history reads like a buffet of backward liberal causes. She’s pro infinity illegal immigration. She’s pro illegal immigration magnets, like handing out infinity welfare benefits to illegals. She was pro police “reform” (see: defund) and stuff like sending social workers to domestic dispute calls. She was also a big defender of the kind of prosecutorial reform that boosted Soros prosecutors into several high-profile positions; this is to say prosecuting crime by not prosecuting it.
As they say lately about liberals, you can identify them pretty easily just by watching them pick the wrong choice on literally every social test.
After 25 years of reporting at places like the LA Times, she’s styled herself as an expert on California and is currently writing a book about the UC Schools.
Which brings us back to the op-ed she wrote.
It begins: “When the University of California eliminated the SAT requirement for admission in 2021, U.C.L.A. saw a significant jump in applications from high-achieving Black and Latino students, for whom the standardized tests had been a barrier.”
Does she define “high-achieving”? No. One can presume it means those students have high marks in secondary school. We know those grades are worthless because students and their public schools are essentially admitting that they are.
What’s the easiest way for corrupt school administrators and grubby politicians to show progress on education? NO TESTS, JUST GIVE EVERYBODY A’s!
Which brings us back to ol’ Miriam. The whole point of her op-ed is to agitate for the status quo. Right now, the UC school system is “embroiled” in a debate over whether or not to reinstitute SAT/ACT requirements for admissions. Mainly, the science and math professors are mad because they have to waste time teaching basic math and algebra.
“The argument that reinstituting the standardized test will rectify the math crisis … ” she writes.
Except, roughly 30% of incoming UC freshmen cannot read and write at a high-school proficiency level either.
She continues, “ … however, obscures a more fundamental debate over the mission of this elite public university and the longstanding tension between its twin goals of excellence and access.”
And there we have it, folks. “Twin goals.” “Excellence and access.”
It is not a goal of higher education, especially elite higher education, to provide “access.” In fact, the most successful elite institutions reduce access. It’s not just tension. One cannot have both excellence and access.
If everyone could be the quarterback, no one would watch the game.
Thankfully, even the NYT readers are too sly to fall for the wispy rhetoric of neo marxists like Miriam, who want us to believe that “equity” – “equal outcomes” – can coexist with excellence.
WHAT I’M READING
Starting New Family Traditions This Fall
Some wholesome content from Mary.
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NFL Head Coach Says They Learned TD Play From 1930s Black-And-White Video, Legendary Sportscaster
A legend giving props to a legend.
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These schools have to be stopped.
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