Remedial education not a matter of color

COMMENTARY

Welcome to the latest "you are an evil racist" battle on campus: remedial education. For those not paying attention, the Cal State University Board of Trustees has proposed cutting all remedial classes by as early as 2001.

Based on a survey conducted in January, the measure would have eliminated 60 percent of that semester's freshman class. This obviously has many people up in arms.

Like many other issues, this is an issue that was born out of a lack of funds, and those in power must now decide where the little money available belongs.

Are the schools in the CSU system institutes of higher learning before being "schools of the people?" Should the overall quality of every student's education be reduced so more people may attend? No way.

All I have to say about such an action is that while unfortunate for some, it should be done. As universities, I see CSU schools as having the responsibility of offering the best education possible, not just the lowest common denominator.

If people cannot meet the requirements for entry, then some other route, such as the community college system should be used. No, I am not a cold-hearted bastard. I do not relish the thought of fewer people being educated (by the CSU system). I also believe that educating more people can only benefit the state as a whole. However, this is not the 1980s. The system just does not have enough surplus cash to solve the problems of the entire K-12 school system, which hasn't been cutting it.

How did the university acquire the dubious honor of making up for the deficiencies in the rest of the system? Maybe because there is no perceived age for the college student. Whatever the reason, the responsibility can no longer be afforded.

When classes or options are cut, let alone departments, yet remedial classes still exist, something is fundamentally wrong.

Now we come to the ethnicity question. Some of the measures' opponents would have us believe that the up-and-coming decision is racially based. One CSULB student went as far as too say "If you pass this proposal, you are legalizing segregation."

Once again, this a joke. The issue has nothing to do with race, even if the majority of those effected will be "nonwhite." To believe otherwise is to buy into the stereotypes that so many people of color vehemently deny, that minorities are not intelligent or capable of achieving without help. We know this not to be true.

This is a money issue, pure and simple. When funds are scarce, a decision must be made as to where to make changes. The trustees may cut classes, and risk upsetting many people. On the other hand, they can keep them, and reduce the quality of education for all.