Editor:

San Francisco deserves a powerful and dynamic CSU campus.

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is essentially shutting down its first- and second-year writing program. We should all be outraged – and we should demand better.

In the past year, 27 faculty members have been let go, and in the last two years 103 early-writing classes have been slashed. The decision to cut back on writing requirements and
raise course caps leaves SFSU and our students ill prepared for the future. Early-year writing
programs in college serve many functions. They help students develop strong reading, writing
and critical thinking skills that serve them in and out of the classroom and for the rest of their
lives.

SFSU has a great writing program full of specially trained instructors who have dedicated their
careers to the art of teaching these skills to the complex and wonderful body of students arriving
on campus eager to learn and grow. In a large university, these small classes are a rare opportunity to build a learning community, make friends and develop relationships with instructors. This has always been super important, but is even more so in the face of the dramatic reading loss we have seen since the re-opening of schools.

This loss is documented in a November 2023 report by Ebony Walton of the National Center for Education Statistics.

Yes there are problems.

Demographic shifts, partnered with increasing doubts about the value of higher education
are leading to shrinking enrollment in many colleges – private and public.

What do you want to do about them?

California is faced with the question: Do we respond to this by contracting our CSU programs,
or do we re-think what higher education looks like and decide to invest in our young people by
offering robust and innovative approaches that attract them.

The research is clear. College degrees, especially from affordable public colleges, have great
returns on investment.

The Public Policy Institute of California verified for us in March of 2023 that in 2021 a worker with a bachelor’s degree earned 62% more than one with only a high school diploma. And that figure goes up when you add a graduate degree.

They also build out economies. Educated parents, workers and neighbors have more agency and
make more careful choices. This is better for everyone. It is good for the economy and it is
good for the community.

Do we want to live in a society that educates and supports learning, or one that shuts it down?

Certainly the current leadership at SFSU has decided to shut things down. Touting a “pivot to a
smaller university,” SFSU President Lynn Mahoney’s vision includes larger classes, massive
layoffs and fewer resources. To some of us, this is not only a violation of the University’s
commitment to social justice, but also a colossal failure of leadership. Instead, SFSU should be
built up.

SFSU has so much to offer. We have great nursing, education, business, film, ethnic studies,
theater and arts programs. We offer working-class families a chance to give their kids a middle-class profession. We offer more affluent families a chance to give their kids an affordable
education in which they interact with people from all over the world, with a wide range of life
experiences.

SFSU and SF leadership should be launching joint projects about how to build out SFSU to offer
meaningful educational opportunities in this complex period. The possibilities are rich –
accelerated BA and MA programs, community collaborations with schools, arts organizations
and businesses. There are powerful ways to meet the changing needs of today’s youth for
those of us committed to the project. We are a dynamic, innovative, creative city full of people
from all over the world who came here to build something great. We deserve a state university
that serves us better.

Jennifer Beach