How One Professor Helped Kill a Bad Bill

A UC Berkeley EECS professor drove to Sacramento multiple times. He talked to legislators in person, on Zoom, phone, text, and email. He recruited allies from government, education, and industry. He released a video with me exposing what was really happening.

The goal wasn’t just to stop a bad bill from watering down our top California universities. It was to establish a new equilibrium: that the people care and are watching.

The Bill That Would Have Gutted UC Admissions

AB 1217 would have stripped UC and CSU from controlling their own admission requirements. Instead of K-12 preparing students for college, the bill forced universities to take orders from K-12.

One legislator stood up against this. Assemblywoman LaShae made the obvious point that fell on deaf ears:

“We can’t ask universities to bring the alignment down to equal out to what K-12 have,” she said. “There’s structure for a reason… we should be able to make sure that our K-12 system can meet the needs of our universities, not the university to meet the needs of our K-12.”

She was outvoted.

How One Professor Changed the Game

Jelani Nelson didn’t just show up to speak for a few minutes. He drove to Sacramento several times over several months. He talked to legislators and their staff through every channel available. He recruited allies in the background — people from government, education, and industry who understood what was at stake.

We released a video together on SaveMath.net exposing the attempts to dumb down education in law. Then he sent it to the right set of people.

The result: AB 1217 died in appropriations.

Politics Is a Repeated Game

Nelson’s insight is worth absorbing. The goal wasn’t just to defeat one bill. It was to send a clear message to everyone in the system: we are watching you, and we will hold you accountable publicly.

Archived tweet

Legislator @AsmLaShae bravely stands up to her committee to say the obvious: K-12 should should prepare college-bound kids for college. Alas, her voice of reason fell on deaf ears. AB 1217 strips UC/CSU from controlling college admission reqs, and to take orders from K-12. 1/ https://t.co/BioEMTDBki

Jelani Nelson @minilek May 04, 2025

“Show up. Shock them out of their comfort zones. Let them know business as usual is over,” Nelson wrote. “Politics is a repeated game, and we are establishing a new equilibrium.”

Legislative bill season is here again. Nelson reports no new dumbing-down bills yet — knock on wood. That’s not luck. That’s the result of politicians understanding there’s organized opposition watching every move.

This is how you win. Not with one angry tweet. Not with one testimony. You show up again and again until they understand: every vote is being watched. Every bill is being tracked. The education bureaucrats thought they could quietly dismantle standards while no one paid attention. Now they know better.