Anaheim Hills, CA – U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-40) released the following statement on the Supreme Court striking down race-based admission programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University.
“All students should be able to achieve their American dream. Race-based education policies divide our nation, undermine global competitiveness, and prevent students from reaching their full potential. These out-of-touch policies make the American dream out of reach,” said Rep. Young Kim. “We should not hold students back and send a dangerous message that one’s race and background matters more than one’s merits and character. Today’s decision is a huge victory for students of all backgrounds. I respect the Supreme Court’s decision as always and hope higher education institutions do the same.”
In 2020, California voters struck down Proposition 16, which would amend the state constitution to allow for race-based decisions in public education, public employment, and public contracting. Protecting educational opportunities has been an issue Rep. Kim has been working on since her time in the State Assembly.
Rep. Kim serves as co-chair of the Women in STEM caucus and has worked tirelessly to advocate for educational opportunities for students by:
- Pushing back against race-based math classes in California;
- Leading the bipartisan Innovations in Informal STEM Learning Act (H.R. 3859), which became law through the CHIPS and Science Act, to support afterschool programs that provide STEM exposure and experiences to students;
- Working to make college more affordable and costs more transparent by introducing the Understanding the True Cost of College Act;
- Serving as co-chair of the Congressional App Challenge in the 117th Congress, where she hosted the largest App Challenge in history and had a nationwide record of 192 student teams from her own Congressional District;
- Urging the Biden administration to strengthen STEM education in response to the largest decrease in 4th and 8th grade mathematics scores recorded in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress Report Card with 4th and 8th-grade mathematics scores recording their largest decrease in decades;
- Introducing a resolution designating April 2023 as “Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month”;
- Inviting Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to visit California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), a leading Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), to see their work providing leading educational and research programs for students; and,
- Helping introduce bills including: the Data Science and Literacy Act of 2023(H.R. 1050) to expand access to STEM education; the Research Excellence through STEM Inclusion Act (H.R. 3809) to grow our STEM workforce; and the Securing American Leadership in Science and Technology Act to create a long-term investment strategy in research, infrastructure and supply chain management.
