City supervisors are now showing interest in the middle school algebra debate, and nearly half want San Francisco voters to weigh in on a March ballot.
The San Francisco Unified School District's decision to forgo eighth grade algebra has outraged many parents since it was implemented a decade ago, even leading to a lawsuit against the school district in May.
Now, city leadership's interest in the debate could tip the scales and influence the school board and district to prioritize a decision.
Opponents of the math reform say that eliminating the opportunity to take algebra before high school hobbles more advanced students. Proponents say it levels the playing field for students of varying skill levels and better serves disadvantaged students, who historically score lower on math aptitude tests than their peers.
Various organizations, including SF Guardians, formerly known as Recall the School Board, and nonprofit education advocacy group SF Parent Action, have urged the district to reintroduce algebra.
The district has not decided when or if it will restore the algebra curriculum, but in June, Superintendent Matt Wayne said the district's math curriculum "isn't working" to serve its diverse student body, the original intention of the reform.
Wayne's admission came after a Stanford study found that, immediately after the reform, student participation in Advanced Placement math fell 15% in San Francisco public schools.
Supervisor Joel Engardio introduced a measure at this week's Board of Supervisors meeting saying the district should do better to prepare all students for algebra rather than "punish kids who can handle it earlier."
Engardio said SFUSD's decision to delay algebra directly correlates to the district's declining enrollment.
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"We have a tale of two school systems in San Francisco. Private schools are growing, and public school enrollment is declining," he said. "A quarter of our kids attend private school, compared to only 9% in California. A policy against eighth grade algebra is a big factor when families decide to leave public schools when their child reaches middle school."
Rex Ridgeway, the grandfather of an Abraham Lincoln High School sophomore and a current Board Member of its Parent Teacher Student Association, agrees with Engardio. Ridgeway has been leading the charge to restore the algebra curriculum in middle school and said that the "failed reform" is a major driver in declining enrollment.
"Families feel that their kids are not getting the quality education that private schools and charter schools offer," he said.
Ridgeway agreed that declining enrollment is an issue across the state, but that the problem is exacerbated in San Francisco, and its math reform "was another thing on a big pile of existing issues."
Ridgeway, who formerly served on SFUSD's citizens bond oversight committee, added that an upcoming $1 billion bond to fix schools and facilities would be a hard sell to voters if algebra was not reintroduced in middle schools.
Now, both the bond measure and algebra measure could appear on the same ballot. Come March, voters will be able to approve the measure to get algebra back in classrooms, but it would be "non-binding,"Â or not legally necessary for the school district to follow.
Still, Ridgeway said he hopes a vote would pressure SFUSD to do so.
SFUSD is currently reevaluating its math curriculum in the wake of the scathing Stanford study but has made no formal movement toward restoring eighth grade algebra.
Supervisor Myrna Melgar said at the meeting that she would like to see a positive outcome from the school district, with an understanding that "this is an urging, not anything within (the board of supervisors) control." Supervisors Ahsha Safai, Catherine Stefani, Matt Dorsey and Melgar joined Engardio to support the measure.
SFUSD could change its policy before March and commit to bringing back 8th grade algebra, in which case supervisors could remove it from the ballot altogether.
