Lindsey Chung

Lindsey is a student at the University of California Berkeley and is a former Campaign Intern at Evolve.

Why is education important to you? 

Public education was conceptualized as an institution that would fight inequality by offering all children an equal chance in life. Unfortunately, schools are currently failing to live up to this goal. Instead, they function as sorting machines that ingrain current inequalities into the next generation. Education policies and systems must be reformed so that they accommodate and serve all students, especially those who experience oppression based on their race, gender, ability, and other identities. Only then will schools be able to act as the equalizer they are meant to be.

How has California's lack of education funding negatively impacted you?

I had the immense privilege of attending well-funded private schools through high school. I was so lucky to have small class sizes and teachers who cared about my learning. Upon arriving at Berkeley, I came face to face with how much of an advantage this was. Most of my peers did not have teachers who would meet with them individually to talk about their writing. Some did have the option to take AP classes they would have wanted to take. These disadvantages don’t just go away when everyone gets to a place like Berkeley. Those who don’t come from privileged K-12 educational backgrounds take classes that others were able to pass out of. They continue to work on their writing while others have already been provided with the resources to help them master it. Educational background and inadequate K-12 education ultimately help determine who feels like they belong at institutions like Berkeley, and they disproportionately affect students who already face multiple layers of oppression.

How has the increasing cost of college impacted you?

My dad always talks about the student protests when UC Berkeley’s registration fees went up from $200 to $275. Now, registration fees have been replaced by proper tuition, and this tuition is so high that it forces students to choose between which basic needs they want to satisfy. Berkeley does not pay its workers a living wage, it can barely offer students one year of housing, and it still demands more tuition every year. California’s “public” UC system is no longer public. From the prohibitively high cost of tuition to the elitist knowledge it prioritizes over lived experiences, the UC’s fail to serve the state of Californian as they are meant to.