October 20, 2009

Stephen L. Weber
Office of the President
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182

RE: AN OPEN LETTER TO SDSU

Dear President Weber:

I would like to express my strong opposition to San Diego State University’s (SDSU) decision to suspend its guaranteed admission policies for local students that meet the entrance requirements and application deadlines.

I understand that SDSU and other public colleges and universities are struggling with the large budget cuts that the global economic crisis has forced upon all of us.  No one is happy with these cuts or the need to reduce enrollment.  But this policy change is the wrong approach to dealing with the difficult financial situation that confronts us.

In the midst of economic uncertainty, limited financial aid, and double-digit unemployment, many students are choosing to attend community colleges and universities that are closer to home.  Now more than ever, our local students need to be encouraged to apply for and pursue higher education.  The suspension of the guaranteed admission policy is a step backward in providing an avenue for students to achieve their dreams of obtaining higher education.

The guaranteed admissions process for local students has been a resounding success.  Although the average percentage of local students at SDSU has been 37% over the past decade, more than half, 54%, of the 2008 freshman class were local students.  Our local students need and deserve this access. 

Combined with the changes that will make the community college transfer process much more difficult, SDSU is raising barriers to the very students that have made this a rich, diverse, and quality institution.  SDSU must keep its doors open to local students. Creating barriers for students who wish to attend, transfer to, or even return to San Diego State University are the worst possible options. 

I ask that you reverse your decision on the suspension of the undergraduate policy that guarantees enrollment to students who reside in the local SDSU area.

Sincerely,

Mary Salas
79th Assembly District

California Little Leaguers Honored

(Sacramento) – Assemblymembers Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) and Marty Block (D-San Diego) honored the Parkview Little League baseball team from Chula Vista during a ceremony on the Assembly Floor after the Blue Bombers won the Little League World Series. The California Little Leaguers not only won the World Series they also set a record by hitting 19 home runs during the series of games they needed to win to take the title. Here’s more in this Assembly Access video.

California First State to End School Segregation

(Sacramento) – School history books across the country detail the U.S. Supreme Court's school desegregation ruling, Brown v. Board of Education ,but few realize the case hinged on a previous court ruling in California. State Assemblymember Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) says the case of Mendez v. Westminster, which ended school segregation in California seven years before the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, paved the way for similar cases in other states and eventually the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. Assembly Bill 531 will include the study of Mendez v. Westminster in public education. The bill has been approved by the legislature and awaits the Governor's signature.

Historic Mendez v. Westminster Court Case to Be Included in the Next State Board of Education Curriculum Framework Update

Sacramento -- Assemblymember Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) announced on April 1, 2009, that the State Board of Education has moved closer to adopting the Mendez v. Westminster court case into the approved guidelines for the history-social science curriculum framework update for the year 2010. Ms. Salas authored AB 531 last year which would have required that the Mendez case be included in the framework, but that bill was vetoed by the governor.

 “I believe this case marks an important point in our history,” said Salas. “It teaches us all that if we allow an injustice to one group it is an injustice to all groups. This is a lesson that should not be forgotten.”

The court case came about in the 1940s, when Gonzalo and Felícita Mendez wanted their three children to attend the school nearest their farm, which was the 17th Street Elementary School in Westminster. The school was cleaner and had better facilities than the dilapidated schools that Mexican children had to attend.  The children were denied entry.

The case of Mendez v. Westminster challenged racial segregation in Orange County schools.  In March of 1945, Gonzalo Mendez, William Guzman, Frank Palomino, Thomas Estrada and Lorenzo Ramirez, all Latino parents in Orange County, filed a lawsuit against four local school districts for segregating their children into separate schools.

In February of 1946, the United States District Court in Los Angeles ruled in favor of Mendez and his co-plaintiffs, finding segregated schools to be an unconstitutional denial of equal protection.  On April 14, 1947, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling.  As a result of this case, the Legislature passed and then Governor Earl Warren signed legislation that repealed segregation laws. This case helped set a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education seven years later.

The curriculum frameworks provide a blueprint for curriculum and instruction by describing the scope and sequence of the knowledge and skills all students need to master in a specific subject area.  The frameworks provide direction to publishers through evaluation criteria that are used to select and adopt instructional materials for kindergarten through grade eight (K-8).

The final guidelines document will go to the State Board of Education for final approval in May 2010.

Thank you for visiting my website. As your newly elected Assembly Member I am excited to serve you in Sacramento.

I hope to make this website your portal to valuable information on issues relating to state government.

In the coming weeks please return to my website for updates on what’s happening in the California State Assembly. In the meantime, please take a moment to sign up for my electronic newsletter so I can keep you informed. If you have any immediate concerns please contact my office at (916) 319-2079.

Thank you,
Mary Salas