What is SCA-5?
SCA-5 is designed to amend California constitution to allow state to discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public education.
http://legiscan.com/CA/bill/
Why should we say NO to SCA-5?
SCA-5 is unconstitutional and not American. It opens the door for discrimination based on race and gender. It is a huge step backwards for civil rights in our society.
The American Dream should only be limited by one's potential, not their heritage. This is what America really stands for. We want our kids to build their life based on their own merit and hard work. Respect and success cannot and should not be achieved through discrimination- it needs to be earned.
Certainly we should help those who are less fortunate in social standing or wealth, for that UC had made significant changes in their admission policy, like removing SAT subject tests requirements, increasing ELC quota from 4% to 9% (which means all students, as long as they are in top 9% of their own high school, are guaranteed admission to UC). Starting from 2001, UC also implements Holistic Review in the admission process. This review considers the student as a whole instead of composition of test scores. A New York Times article gave an example where an Indian immigrant with perfect scores on GPA, SAT, and APs, is not ranked as high as a Mexican-American student with a moving, well-written essay but much lower scores. [4]
As a result, UC enrollment of certain minority group has increased a lot [5]. If we want to improve more, the lawmakers should focus on enhancing K-12 education, instead of using blatant discrimination in college admission.
Dr. Martin Luther King once dreamed of, that “...children will one day not be judged by the color of their skin, by the content of their character”. Now, the time has come again. Do we want the American dream to be shaped by racial discriminators, or proud hard workers in the future?
How do you say NO to SCA-5?
Due to Democrats’ super majority, SCA-5 has passed the state Senate on Jan. 31th, 2014. Even the state governer, Jerry Brown has tried to stop it twice, the Party of Democrats’ insists to break the Prop 209 and make it a new law. However, there’s still a chance to block it in the state Assembly. We only need THREE Democrats’ votes of NO. Time is essence, please act quickly:
1. Contact your district legislature member
Call, e-mail, fax or meet your state assemblyman in person to make your voice heard! This is the most important step. You can find your district assembly member here: http://findyourrep.
District 28 (Cupertino, Saratoga, Campbell, W. San Jose): Paul Fong (408) 371-2802
District 24 (Menlo Park to Palo Alto to Sunnyvale): Rich Gordon (650) 691-2121
District 25 (S. Fremont to N. San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Clara): Bob Wieckowski (510) 440-9030
District 20 (Castro Valley, Fremont, Hayward, Union City): Bill Quirk (510) 583-8818
2. Sign here for local influence: http://www.uaafa.org
UAAFA will gather local signatures and present to the respective local assemblyman.
3. Sign the change.org petition for US influence: https://www.change.org/
4. Spread the message to your friends and neighbors
5. Register to vote for Republican in order to gain the balance of power. We don’t want a Dictatorship government in our state!
For More Reading:
[1] Viewpoints: A step backward on higher education enrollment
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/
[2] Elder vs. State Senator Ed Hernandez (D-CA) on Racial Preferences, Jan 31,2014
http://vimeo.com/86149155
[3] www.saynosca5.com
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
[5] http://www.ucop.edu/news/