Lawsuit over Michigan grant raises concerns in California

By Linh Tat

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Scholarships help students out, but they don’t always help those
who need it most.

The American Civil Liberties Union slapped a lawsuit against the
state of Michigan on June 27 for allegedly discriminating against
poor and minority students in its merit-based scholarship program,
raising questions about the fairness of other states’ award
programs.

The reason behind the lawsuit, according to Kary Moss, executive
director of the ACLU in Michigan, is that the state determined
scholarship recipients based solely on one test score, which she
said was racially biased, and not designed to measure individual
student achievement but rather, school performance.

Unlike Michigan, there are currently no state merit-based
scholarships in California, but Gov. Gray Davis has proposed two
such programs.

At UCLA, the only two merit-based scholarships offered by the
Financial Aid Office are the Regents and Chancellor’s Blue
and Gold scholarships. Both consider students’ SAT I and II
test scores, GPA, extracurricular activities, and letters of
recommendation, said Gail Ishino, assistant director of the
Financial Aid Office.

According to Edward Flores, a Student Affairs Officer in charge
of the Blue and Gold Scholarship, the awards criteria do not hinder
students coming from lower-tiered schools.

“If anything, it would be an advantage because the donors
are requesting that we select students from those schools,”
Flores said.

Richard Diaz, a manager in the Standards and Assessment Office
of the California Department of Education, said California is more
fair than other states in awarding money to students, especially
with Gov. Davis’ proposed scholarship programs.

One program, the Governor’s Scholarship Program, would
provide $1,000 scholarships based on the statewide Stanford 9 Test
scores. The Stanford 9 is a standardized test that assesses student
achievement in various subjects.

Students ranking in the top 5 percent statewide and top 10
percent at each individual school would qualify for the award.

The idea behind the governor’s program is that students
coming from higher-tiered schools will face more competition for
the scholarships. Students from lower-tiered schools may receive
lower scores, but there are fewer students who would be serious
contenders for the award within their school, Diaz said.

The percentage of students receiving scholarships overall may be
heavily weighted towards students coming from top schools, but the
proposal would still allow lower-tiered students to receive some of
the awards, he added.

“I’d be disingenuous in saying students from a
lower-end school are going to have an equal chance of getting
this,” Diaz said. “By the very nature of some of the
schools and history of scoring at that school, you’re not
going to have, on a per capita basis, as many students from the
lower end receiving scholarships.”

“But there is an effort to try and equalize this,”
he continued.

The Governor’s Distinguished Math and Science Scholarship,
another proposed program, awards $2,500 to individual students who
rank in the top 2 percent in the Golden State Exam or top 3 percent
of Advanced Placement tests.

If a school offers an AP program, students must take the AP
test, which they must pay for, to qualify for the scholarship.
Students may substitute scores from the free Golden State Exam
““ which is offered at every school ““ only if their
schools do not offer an AP program.

This does not consider whether AP programs at all schools are of
the same quality.

But, with more than one way for students to qualify for these
scholarships, Diaz said he does not think California will be facing
a lawsuit similar to Michigan’s.

“We’re on stronger grounds because we’re
making it more equitable,” he said.

Many are concerned, however, that students from poorer schools
aren’t as likely to receive high scores that would qualify
them for the scholarship. Christopher Calhoun, a spokesman for the
Southern California chapter of ACLU, said those receiving top
scores traditionally come from wealthy families with less need for
the scholarships.

According to a 1997 report by the University of California
Outreach Task Force, students from the bottom fifth of state
schools, which predominantly consist of underrepresented minority
students, receive an average SAT I score of 715, while those from
top schools receive a score of 1,007 on average.

Also, at each economic level, African American and Latino
students consistently receive the lowest test scores, the report
found.

Calhoun said such tests are biased.

“The bottom line is that you create this assessment system
that sort of rewards some students, but you don’t supply an
equal opportunity education to all,” he said.

“In California where this sort of standardized test is
like a one size fits all, the test presumes a perfect world of
equity that offers equal education to all,” he continued.