Dear Berkeley,
I Want My Taxes Back
Dear Berkeley,
I Want My Taxes Back
When I was in eighth grade, I, like every other Californian 8th grader, signed a contract with the State of California. The contract stated that if I maintained a certain G.P.A. in high school(3.5 or higher, I believe), the State of California would guarantee a place in the UC system for me. This year, there are thousands of Jewish high school students applying to UCs; they held up their half of the contract; the question is, has the state?
The UC system is the crown jewel of California public education. There are 9 elite undergraduate universities, and the graduate schools are, in many cases, the best in the world. Perhaps the most astounding thing about the UC system, though, is that it’s publicly funded and run – funded by my tax dollars, and run by my representatives.
Every Californian pays into the UC system, because, in theory, every Californian benefits from it.
But what if that was no longer the case? What if the UC system no longer represented all Californians equally? What if the UC system took Jewish tax-payer dollars, and then used them to create an environment that was not safe for Jewish students?
For the past 4 years, Jewish high school students have spent their adolescence working hard to get into these schools. They took all of the required courses, they studied for the standardized tests, they spent thousands of hours on extracurriculars, and now, they are learning, that, they can still go to a UC, but none of the tax dollars they paid into the UC system go towards protecting Jewish students.
(Would students at Berkeley defend Israeli Immigrant Students from antizionist speakers?)
Not one UC administrator or California official has taken a public stand about the level of antisemitism we are currently seeing on campus. Not one. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, is the head of the UC system – what has he done? What about the president of Berkeley? Or UCLA?
Should students be allowed to be proud of their identity on campus? Earlier this year, “Two people tried to steal an Israeli flag from a UC Berkeley student during a rally for Palestine on campus Wednesday, authorities report. The culprits were unable to take the flag, UCPD said, but struck the student in the head with his metal water bottle before fleeing the scene.” Is this the kind of learning environment we want for our students? (Source)
(An Earlier Version Contained an anecdote that has since been taken down. I apologize for any confusion)
What level of education can you get if you are being intimidated like this in class? What kind of college experience can you have if you cannot walk across campus without getting harassed?
The UCs are public schools – they have an obligation to serve the public. If these institutions no longer serve Jewish Californians, then they have no right to accept Jewish tax dollars.
The sad reality is that the UC system has collapsed. It’s an embarrassment. The humanities and social science programs at Berkeley and UCLA have produced some of the weakest and least thoughtful minds I have ever encountered. Adults who cannot have a two minute conversation without resorting to sloganeering and shouting.
Most California parents used to dream that their kid might go to a school like Berkeley or UCLA. Now, Jewish parents can’t fathom the idea of sending their kids there.
If the UC system does not do something to address this travesty soon, I expect Jewish enrollment to be down by more than 50% next year. If that is the case, there is no reason that I should have to pay even one cent to these institutions.
The UCs have become state-funded breeding grounds for groupthink and antisemitism, and I want my money back.