UC Admissions

If the University of California Board of Regents wants to ensure the dumbing down of California, it will cut in half the extra grade point received by those students taking honors and advanced placement classes. The advanced placement classes are university level courses, which, like the honors courses, are much more difficult than the regular curriculum’s classes. By depreciating the reward for the dedication and hard work of students taking those courses, the board will be discouraging students from challenging themselves to learn more.

Remember Jaime Escalante, who was able to motivate his Latino students to take advanced math classes? They worked hard, they succeeded and they were rewarded for their efforts. Don’t take away the students’ motivation to work harder and achieve higher goals. In the push to be in the top 4% of each school’s graduating class, who will risk receiving a lower grade by challenging him/herself in an honors class?

NOELLE DONFELD

Pacific Palisades