A warning from a University of California, Berkeley professor that some students are arriving in calculus classes without basic math skills has renewed debate over California’s education system, with Fox Business host Stuart Varney and Trump Media & Technology Group adviser Katie Zacharia arguing over how serious the problem has become and what caused it.
During a recent segment of Varney & Co., Varney said the Berkeley professor reported that some incoming students appeared to be five to eight years behind where they should be in mathematics, despite enrolling in college-level courses.
The professor, according to Varney’s summary, blamed at least part of that decline on the removal of standardized testing from college admissions during the COVID era.
Zacharia went considerably further, arguing that California’s problems begin long before students reach college and reflect what she sees as a broader failure of the state’s K-12 public school system.
Varney Asks Whether The Damage Can Be Undone
Varney introduced the discussion by saying some Berkeley students entering calculus reportedly could not perform basic math.
He then asked Zacharia whether educational gaps that large could realistically be repaired.
Zacharia responded that the “whole system” in California needs to be reworked, particularly from kindergarten through 12th grade.
She said she has four children and sends all of them to private school because she believes California’s public education system has failed.
That is Zacharia’s assessment rather than a neutral finding, but the underlying issue Varney raised is still difficult to ignore. If students really are arriving at a major university several years behind in foundational math, colleges are being forced to deal with problems that began much earlier.
Calculus depends on years of earlier skills being solid. Weaknesses in arithmetic, algebra or other fundamentals do not simply disappear when a student reaches a more advanced course.
Zacharia Blames More Than Test-Optional Admissions
Zacharia said she did not believe the problem could be explained only by colleges dropping standardized test requirements.
She argued that California schools had shifted attention away from rigorous math and reading toward social and political issues, specifically criticizing what she called “social justice policies” and “transgender ideology.”
In her view, those priorities have displaced academic rigor.
Those claims are political judgments, and the short Fox Business segment did not present evidence showing that those subjects directly caused falling math readiness. Still, Zacharia used them to make a broader argument that schools only have so much instructional time and should place core academic subjects first.
She also defended standardized testing.
While critics have argued that standardized tests can disadvantage students from different backgrounds, Zacharia said those exams help prepare students for the competition and expectations they will encounter in college.
Varney appeared to agree with her on that point.
The debate over testing often gets pulled into larger ideological fights, but there is a more basic question underneath it: if schools remove one widely used measurement of readiness, they still need some reliable way to determine whether students actually have the skills required for advanced coursework.
“Have We Lost A Generation?”
Varney then asked Zacharia a blunt question: “Do you think we’ve lost a generation?”
She stopped short of saying yes.
Zacharia said she did not believe the situation was beyond repair, but argued that colleges and universities may now have to slow down entire classes so less-prepared students can catch up.
That creates another problem.
If instructors spend more time reviewing material students were expected to master years earlier, students who arrived fully prepared may also move through courses more slowly.
Zacharia said colleges need to improve both “math preparedness” and “math readiness” because students who enter the professional world without those skills may struggle to compete with graduates from other states where she believes math requirements remain more demanding.
That is perhaps the most important concern raised in the segment. Education gaps do not end with grades or test scores; they eventually follow students into jobs where employers expect them to solve problems without remedial instruction.
The Argument Reaches Beyond College Admissions
The Berkeley example became a launching point for a much broader criticism of California rather than a detailed examination of the professor’s findings.
Varney framed the issue around students entering calculus without the expected foundation.
Zacharia treated that as evidence that something deeper has gone wrong across California education.
Those are not exactly the same claim.
A group of underprepared Berkeley students does not automatically mean California students as a whole cannot perform basic math, and the Fox Business segment did not provide statewide test data establishing that conclusion.
At the same time, even isolated reports from advanced college classrooms can be valuable warning signs if professors are being forced to reteach skills that should have been mastered years earlier.
The challenge is separating those warning signs from the political arguments quickly built around them.
Zacharia Says California Needs A Different Approach
For Zacharia, the solution begins with changing what schools prioritize.
She called for more rigorous math and reading instruction and said California needs to reconsider the direction of its K-12 system.
Her comments reflected a familiar criticism from conservatives who believe schools have become too focused on cultural and social issues, while supporters of current policies would likely argue that academic performance depends on a much larger mix of factors.
The segment itself did not settle that argument.
What it did highlight was a striking claim: students capable of gaining admission to Berkeley and reaching calculus may still be arriving without mastery of much more basic mathematics.
If that gap is truly five to eight years for some students, fixing it at the university level would be an enormous task.
The Bigger Question Is Where The Failure Begins
Varney and Zacharia ultimately treated college math struggles as the end result of decisions made much earlier.
Zacharia believes California’s public schools have failed to build the necessary foundation, while the Berkeley professor cited by Varney reportedly pointed specifically toward the disappearance of standardized testing in admissions.
Both explanations focus on different stages of the same pipeline.
The more useful question may be less political: when does the learning gap first appear, and why is it allowed to remain large enough that a student can reach a college calculus classroom without the expected foundation?
That is something schools, parents and universities would all need to answer.
Whatever someone thinks about standardized tests or California education politics, students being years behind in basic math by the time they arrive at college is not a problem that can be solved with one policy change.
By then, the system is no longer trying to prevent the gap.
It is trying to repair one that has already been allowed to grow.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
