Math failures double at 'test-free' University of California

UCLA and Berkeley math professors should stop complaining about students who lack basic math skills, says Richard Barrera, a school board president who's running for state superintendent in California. "Part of your job that you get paid by the taxpayers to do is to teach our kids." That includes teaching fractions to university students, he told Conan Nolan of NBC Los Angeles.

The University of California shouldn't consider applicants' SAT or ACT scores, said Barrera, who's endorsed by the California Teachers' Association and heavily favored to win. "Listen, we've got . . . first-generation students overcoming so many barriers to be on the campus," he said. "Those students are capable of learning quickly. What they need is a little support to be caught up. What they don't need is to be excluded."

UC professors don't think teaching it's their job to teach remedial math. In a June letter, more than 1,400 UC faculty — mostly in STEM — complained of “severe” math deficits among incoming students and called for using standardized tests to screen for math readiness.They argue students who might catch up at community college and then transfer are set up to fail at UC. (Some humanities professors also want SAT and ACT scores to be required.)

Don't blame UC professors for students who can't do basic math, said his opponent in the November election, Sonja Shaw. "That’s a career politician scrambling to cover up a failure he helped create."

"A child who can't do fractions at 18 was a child who couldn't do fractions at ten, and the system knew it," Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, told Fox News Digital.

Barrera serves as senior advisor for special projects at the state Education Department. Shaw was a stay-at-home mother before being elected to the Chino Valley school board, where she fought for parents' rights to be notified about changes in their child's gender identity at school.

Unprepared students aren't catching up quickly at UC campuses, reports EdSource. In 2025-26, 17.8 percent of freshmen taking introductory math courses failed to pass. That's nearly double the 9.2 percent failure rate in 2020-21, the last year in which standardized tests were required for admission.

At UC Merced, 36.4 percent of first-year students failed to pass introductory math, more than double the rate five years earlier. Berkeley was 13 percent, UCLA 11 percent and UC Santa Barbara the lowest at 8.2 percent.

The "preparedness gap" is large, Joel Hass, a UC Davis math professor, told the New York Post. Some students are very well qualified. Others are way behind.

"Just 49.3% of California students met or exceeded state English language arts standards in 2025-26, while only 38.4% achieved proficiency in math," reports Zain Khan for the Post. Scores remain below pre-pandemic levels. California spends about $26,450 per student, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“The failure of high schools, and more generally K-12 education in California, is a scandal. The state now sends students who might thrive by first going to the community colleges to UC campuses where they are unprepared for a serious academic environment,” Hass said.

The Board of Regents has ordered a review of "test-free" admissions policies that will produce recommendations by fall 2027.