Remedial Classes

* As one of the “Cal State people” referred to by Alexander Astin (interview, Opinion, April 18), I would like to explain why we do not think that remediation is our “most important work.” To the extent that we are willing to lower entrance requirements and performance standards in our courses, we will only make the remediation problem worse. Undercutting K-12 teachers and the communities struggling to improve their educational programs by telling students that they don’t have to learn anything until they get to college is the worst thing that we can do. The California State University system is engaged in an extensive program of cooperation with K-12 educators to enhance the preparation of students before they come to college.

On behalf of the “UC people,” perhaps Astin might be willing to consider a suggestion. Since remedial instruction is the most expensive form of instruction (requiring small classes, intensive student-teacher interaction, diagnostic testing, etc.) and the UC system typically expends more than twice as much educating a student as the CSU, wouldn’t it make more sense for the UC campuses to take on the short-run task identified by Astin while we work on the long-term solution?

SIMEON J. CROWTHER

Professor of Economics

Cal State Long Beach