Community College Reading Standard
* Re “Community Colleges May Shelve Reading Skill Standard,” May 1.
It is demoralizing that Ventura County community colleges are considering a proposal to remove a requirement that students show reasonable reading proficiency.
It is sad that a student can graduate from high school without competence in the basic cognitive ability to read, but it is absolutely pitiable to perpetuate this deficiency at the college level. It is further offensive to imply that students (minority or nonminority) are incapable of learning literacy.
If this is all we can expect from our taxpayer-supported community colleges, then I propose we automatically grant diplomas to applicants at the time of initial enrollment, stop the pretense of education and refund the savings to the taxpayer.
ARTHUR M. FREEDMAN
Oak Park
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