It’s Friday, June 5. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: John Steinbeck, great American. The Justice Department closes in on the human traffickers who exploited the border crisis. Ezra Jin’s family worries China is retaliating against the pastor Donald Trump said he would try to free.

But first: The SAT is back, but do we want it?

Over the last decade, our college entrance exams have been steadily dumbed down.

The longest reading passage on the SAT is only 150 words—and the shortest is 25, just a single sentence—because the College Board claims that the ability to read anything longer is “not an essential prerequisite for college.”

But in 2020, a lot of colleges ditched the test because of Covid, deepening a trend that began not because the SAT was too easy—but because it was supposedly too hard for certain students: the ones who didn’t benefit from tip-top exam prep.

The University of California was one of those places. As of this week, more than 1,400 faculty members have signed an open letter demanding the return of the SAT for STEM majors—after finding that 30 percent of incoming freshmen don’t have middle school–level math skills. In the last 18 months, plenty of other top universities have brought back the SAT, too.

But what’s the point of reinstating a test that’s not tough? And could there be an alternative?

These are the questions at the heart of Maya Sulkin’s latest piece, which focuses on a man who is trying to make college entrance exams rigorous again.

Jeremy Tate, who spent a decade teaching in public schools, is the inventor of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), which expects students to analyze long chunks of the Western canon and doesn’t let them use calculators. It’s been criticized for being too conservative and for being championed by the Trump administration—but Tate says this isn’t about politics.

It’s about making sure students are ready for serious academic work.

—Rick Brooks

As Ezra Jin’s Case Gains Attention, His Family Worries China’s Retaliating

Frannie Block

Three weeks ago, President Trump returned from his Beijing summit after making a request to Chinese leader Xi Jinping: Release Christian pastor Ezra Jin. On the flight home, the president said he was optimistic about Jin’s case. But since then, things have only gotten worse for the pastor, who has been imprisoned in China for eight months for practicing his faith. As Frannie Block reports today, he has been cut off from his lawyer and now has no connection to the outside world. Frannie has reported on Jin’s story throughout his ordeal. Read her latest on the dark turn it has taken this week. Read full story

My GLP-1 Nightmare

Mayim Bialik

The common story about GLP-1s is that they’re a miracle drug. And it’s true: They are life-changing treatments for obesity that will save countless lives. But there’s another part of this tale: the people for whom GLP-1s can be a disaster. Actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik is one of them. She tells the story of how one shot of the drug was enough to wreck her body entirely. Read full story

EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department Closes In on Illegal Alien for Smuggling Unaccompanied Minors

Audrey Fahlberg

In recent years, “The Free Press” has reported on how the Biden administration left migrant children at risk—and what is now being done to help unaccompanied minors preyed on by traffickers. Today, Audrey Fahlberg has a new scoop: The Justice Department is preparing criminal charges against an illegal alien from Guatemala for allegedly using fake identities to gain custody of unaccompanied migrant children. Read her report on the crisis in child trafficking and the Justice Department’s new plan to crack down on the most vicious offenders. Read full story

In the latest installment of our Great Americans series, Major Garrett writes about John Steinbeck. From Of Mice and Men to East of Eden and beyond, his novels echo in our memory “like a favorite family hymn, a true American hymn,” writes Major.