High school improvement is the state's most critical education need, the state superintendent of public instruction said Tuesday.

The state has not made high school reform a priority and too many high school graduates are unprepared for college or work, Jack O'Connell told the California State University Board of Trustees at its board meeting in Fresno, which reporters heard via telephone.

About 90percent of Cal State system students come from California's public high schools.

"If the public schools get better, we get better,' Cal State system Chancellor Charles B. Reed told O'Connell.

O'Connell asked the Cal State system to join a partnership to improve high schools. He called for a more rigorous curriculum for all students not just those going to college and better alignment between the K-12 and university systems.

"All of our students do, in fact, need to have basic skills in order to succeed,' O'Connell said.

All students, he said, should be able to think critically and communicate effectively. They should all study a foreign language.

The culture of California high schools must change, he said. And they have to do it without extra money.

"We cannot use the budget crisis as an excuse not to improve educational delivery,' O'Connell said. "We simply cannot let a generation of students go ignored and be unprepared for college and the workplace.'

O'Connell is pushing legislation to give high schools greater flexibility in spending their categorical funds if they agree to focus on five goals:

Creating high expectations for all students.

Expanding professional development for teachers and school leaders.

Aligning high school textbooks with state academic standards. Smoothing students' transitions from middle school to high school and from high school to college.

Involving parents, business leaders and local officials in plans to improve student achievement.

O'Connell applauded the Cal State system's Early Assessment Program, which is designed to reduce the number of freshmen who need remedial classes. Starting this spring, high school juniors can take augmented California Standards Tests in English and math. A high score will exempt students from the Cal State system's placement tests. Nonexempt students will have their senior year to improve before taking the Cal State system's placement tests.

O'Connell called it "the best example I can think of to help us achieve smooth transitions.'

"I expect we will dramatically reduce the need for remediation,' he said.

O'Connell will present his high school improvement plan to the University of California regents in San Francisco today.