UC Renews Hope for Students Who Missed Program

Top students at 21 public high schools in Los Angeles County are among hundreds statewide who have new hopes of attending a University of California campus after officials agreed Friday to give their schools another chance to forward transcripts.

Some students had lost heart after they learned earlier this month that their high schools--including Locke, Manual Arts and Eagle Rock--had failed to participate in a fledgling admission program designed to save seats for the top 4% of each high school.

Indicating a desire to put students’ interests first, UC officials said they would offer fall 2001 admission to students statewide who had applied to UC and met all requirements for admission, regardless of whether their schools took part.

“We intend to guarantee these deserving students a place at UC because they should not be disadvantaged by the fact that their schools did not participate in this process,” said C. Judson King, UC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

“We regret any confusion or distress these students may have suffered, and we look forward to welcoming them into the University of California community,” King said.

The top 4% program was the subject of a lawsuit filed Wednesday against UC regents on behalf of students by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California. Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the suit charged that UC had bungled implementation of the plan, denying high-performing students their rights.

The program does not guarantee admission to a particular campus.

King said the decision to extend eligibility “in no way implies that we concede the claims” of the suit.

“We are encouraged by the university’s announcement, and we will study it,” said Rocio Cordoba, a ACLU staff attorney. “In any case, no student should ever be put in the place of having qualified academically but being disqualified through someone else’s omission.” King noted that UC had sent a series of letters to school superintendents, principals and counselors in 1999 and 2000, outlining the program and urging their participation. The university also held workshops for school officials and developed a Web site for the program.

UC officials said nearly 85% of the state’s 852 public high schools sent transcripts in time to meet the July deadline. But 21 schools in Los Angeles County, 10 in Orange County and two in Ventura County missed it.

Some chose not to take part, saying that their students would qualify for UC admission anyway. Others cited bureaucratic foul-ups. At Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, for example, counselors identified nearly 50 top students and forwarded the list to the records office. But a secretary, unaware of the July deadline, left for summer vacation without mailing the transcripts.

The UC said it will write to the 134 public high schools and 97 accredited private high schools that did not participate and ask them to forward, by a postmark date of Jan. 26, a list of the top 4% of their students. Eligibility for admission will be granted to those students who applied to UC and had completed 11 courses required by UC by the end of their junior year.

The 4% program was begun this year at the urging of Gov. Gray Davis as an effort to attract students from schools that do not normally send many graduates to UC schools. Students are compared with peers at their own high schools rather than statewide. After a ban on affirmative action began three years ago, this plan was seen as a way of helping minority students.

UC officials said it is unclear how many students will be affected by the Friday decision. Of the top 4% students at any individual school, many would already be eligible under the university’s statewide criteria. Statewide, the number of students made eligible for UC solely by the 4% program would be about 3,600, UC officials estimated.

Benjamin Beltran, who lives in Watts and attends Locke High School, was relieved by the decision.

“Oh, cool,” he said. “I know for sure I’m going to a UC, even though I don’t know which one.”

Chances are good that Benjamin, 17, would have qualified for UC even without the 4% program. As prospective college students go, he has all the right stuff: a 3.7 grade point average, success in several Advanced Placement courses, extracurricular activities and even a few completed courses at local colleges.

Benjamin, who ranks 15th in a class of 265, said he applied to the UC system despite doubts that he would have a chance. His first choice is UC Santa Barbara, with UC Riverside a backup.

Angered by the bureaucratic lapse that kept his school from participating, Benjamin joined the ACLU suit “to help other people out.”

He said the school administration should have done a better job of making sure the school participated. He added that the lone college counselor is overwhelmed and has had health problems.

George McKenna, superintendent of District I of Los Angeles Unified School District, of which Locke is a part, said he too was outraged when he read of the failure of several Los Angeles schools to take part in the 4% program.

He said he expressed his displeasure to the school and vowed “to do some things administratively so that it will not happen again. . . . It’s unacceptable,” he said. “Deadlines have to be met when kids’ educational lives are at stake.”