Richard Barrera, frontrunner to become California’s state superintendent of public instruction, opposes reinstating standardized testing like the SAT for UC admissions despite concerns that some incoming students lack basic math skills. During an interview on NBC LA on October 4, Barrera argued that universities should provide support to help struggling students catch up instead of excluding them through tests. This stance comes amid debates over grade inflation and its impact on college preparedness, with the number of high school seniors reporting a 4.0 GPA doubling in the past decade while state testing shows continued declines in student performance since the pandemic.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Richard Barrera, president of the San Diego Unified School Board and frontrunner for California’s state superintendent of public instruction, opposes reinstating the SAT as an admissions requirement for University of California (UC) schools. Despite concerns from math professors at UC Berkeley and UCLA that some students are arriving on campus without basic math skills, Barrera remains firm in his stance against standardized testing. The UC system dropped SAT and ACT scores from admissions decisions starting in 2020 due to criticisms that these tests disadvantage low-income, Black, and Latino students. Critics argue that eliminating standardized exams leaves universities with fewer independent measures of student academic preparedness as high school GPAs have risen.
Written for “California School Math Excuse” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 58128: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-05
California’s frontrunner for state superintendent of public instruction says he would oppose bringing back standardized testing for students applying to University of California schools, even amid concerns students are struggling with basic math skills.
asserted
students → say → skills
Richard Barrera, president of the San Diego Unified School Board, has served on the board since 2008 and currently works as a senior policy adviser to State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
asserted
Barrera → serve → Thurmond
Barrera is running against Chino Valley Unified school board president Sonja Shaw to succeed Thurmond as California’s top elected education official.
asserted
Barrera → run → official
Barrera has the backing of the powerful California Teachers Association in the race.
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Barrera → have → race
Barrera said he does not support reinstating the SAT as an admissions requirement for the UC system in an interview with NBC LA’s Conan Nolan on Sunday, Oct. 4,
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he → say → Sunday
Nolan pressed Barrera on that disconnect, pointing to concerns from math professors at UC Berkeley and UCLA who say some students are arriving on campus without basic math skills.
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students → press → skills
“Absolutely not,” Barrera said when asked whether the SAT should return.
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SAT → say → ?
“So math teachers at UCLA and Berkeley and every place else, part of your job that you get paid by the taxpayers to do is to teach our kids.”
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you → pay → kids
“Teach them fractions when they’re at the preeminent institutions of higher learning in the country?” Nolan responded.
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Nolan → teach → country
“Listen, we’ve got students who are coming up from incredible experiences, first generation students overcoming so many barriers to be on the campus,” Barrera said.
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Barrera → listen → campus
“Those students are capable of learning quickly.
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students → learn → ?
What they need is a little support to be caught up.
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need → need → What
What they don’t need is to be excluded.”
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need → need → What
Barrera’s position comes as questions mount over whether high school grades accurately reflect how prepared students are for college.
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students → come → college
The number of college applicants reporting GPAs of 4.0 or higher has doubled over the past decade, even as state testing shows students are still struggling to recover from a post-pandemic plunge in reading and math performance.
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students → report → performance
The disconnect has fueled concerns about grade inflation, particularly as professors at some of California’s top universities say they are encountering students who struggle with basic math, including fractions.
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who → fuel → fractions
The UC system dropped the SAT and ACT from admissions decisions beginning in 2020 amid longstanding criticism that standardized tests disadvantage low-income, Black and Latino students.
But critics of test-free admissions argue that eliminating the exams has left universities with fewer independent measures of students’ academic preparedness as high school GPAs have risen.
asserted
GPAs → drop → preparedness
Education advocate Charles Cole, who attended California public schools before graduating high school in 2001, previously told The Post that grade inflation has been brewing for decades and has only grown worse in recent years.
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inflation → attend → years
Cole, who attended much of high school in Oakland, earned strong grades but said he felt betrayed when he arrived at a California State University and learned he needed remedial classes.
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he → attend → classes
It didn’t take a lot,” Cole said of earning A’s in high school.
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Cole → take → school
“I’m happy and grateful for the grades because it helped me get into college.
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me → ’m → college
California’s state-mandated test results underscore the gap between high GPAs and academic proficiency.
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results → mandate → GPAs
Results from the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments, which measure proficiency in English and math, showed about 57% of California 11th graders met or exceeded standards in English during the 2024-25 school year, compared with just 30.5% in math.
asserted
% → measure → math
Those figures have improved from pandemic-era lows of 54.8% in English and 27% in math during the 2021-22 school year, but remain generally below pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the California Department of Education.
uncertain
figures → improve → Education
The Aporia
