Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California State University officials want to require high school students to take an extra math, science or computer class to qualify for admission, a proposal that critics say will harm low-income students of color.

Beginning in 2026, the university is proposing that high school students who want to attend one of the 23 CSU campuses have to take an extra class that counts as “quantitative reasoning,” meaning that it gets kids thinking about numbers.

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But critics say too many students are stuck in schools where they don’t even have the chance to take the courses currently required, much less another one.

“We totally believe the students are capable of doing better. But there are huge shortages of math and science teachers, especially in low-income schools and schools serving students of color,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of the Education Trust-West, a nonprofit education advocacy group based in Oakland.

She and dozens of other critics plan to testify against the proposal Thursday at a special meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees at its headquarters in Long Beach.

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