The San Francisco Unified School District will reexamine its math curriculum following a near decadelong outcry from parents who have been incensed that the district stripped algebra from the middle-school curriculum.
Now, voters will get to weigh in on whether algebra should be offered in eighth grade.
A March 2024 ballot initiative was launched by supervisors Joel Engardio and Ahsha Safai last week to urge the school district to put algebra back in The City’s middle schools after the district shifted in 2014 to offering algebra only in high school, claiming that doing so would close an equity gap among students.
A study by Stanford University released earlier this year showed the move actually widened that gap. Students of color were performing worse on standardized tests, and opponents said that the policy held back advanced students.
At a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Safai called the move to eliminate algebra in eighth grade a “failed experiment.”
“We must recognize that it didn’t deliver on the promises of equity,” he said.
For nearly a decade, parents and advocacy groups, as well as leaders in STEM education, have pushed back against eliminating the course from middle-school classrooms. But the district has not moved to bring it back.
Superintendent Matt Wayne, following the release of the Stanford study, said that the district’s math curriculum “was not working,” and vowed to reexamine the district’s math policy.
Wayne updated the district’s progress at last week’s Board of Education meeting.
“We are working with experts, researchers, educators, labor partners and our communities to implement our vision and principles in the classroom through strong curriculum, high-quality instruction, academic support and opportunities for acceleration (in math),” he said.
That included sending SFUSD math coaches and principals to Japan to learn more about that country’s curriculum and how it could be implemented here.
Board of Education Commissioner Matt Alexander, who joined SFUSD educators in Japan, said that the country moved from a traditional mathematics teaching to “teaching through problem solving, with dramatic increases in test scores across the nation.”
But Japanese schools focused on more than just curriculum, he said.Pedagogy and professional development for teachers are just as important.
“Yes, our curriculum is completely inadequate, but (SFUSD) elementary teachers are not trained as mathematicians,” he said, adding that elementary teachers in Japan work with university math professors to deliver lessons.
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Although the March ballot measure focuses solely on curriculum, Alexander said professional development should be considered as well.
But Rex Ridgeway, an SFUSD grandparent who worked closely with Supervisor Engardio’s office to introduce the measure, said the measure is needed for the district to take parents’ concerns seriously.
“I’m happy to see that (the district) is responding,” he said, but he said he’s angry the issue has gone this far. Ridgeway and a cohort of SFUSD parents and grandparents sued the district to bring algebra back to the middle school curriculum in March.
The next court date for the lawsuit against the San Francisco Unified School District is Nov. 29.
Ridgeway said the change in curriculum nearly a decade ago negatively affected his granddaughter, who had to “work around” the district’s decision by doubling up on math courses outside of what SFUSD offered for her grade level. It was the only way she was able to take advanced courses later, he said.
Not all schools have the time or financial resources to “double up” — which means, according to Ridgeway, that the curriculum is inherently inequitable.
The majority of supervisors agreed, approving the resolution 10-1 with only one dissenting vote, from Shamann Walton.
At the meeting, Walton said he didn’t understand the purpose of the measure. If passed, the measure would simply urge the district to bring algebra back to middle school, but there would be no mandate to do so. The Board of Supervisors has no jurisdiction over the school district.
“I don’t like misleading the voters by making them think that we’re putting something on the ballot that has any teeth or that actually does anything,” he said.
But Safai said that if SFUSD restores the algebra curriculum, it will restore voter confidence in SFUSD. The district has experienced a bevy of problems over the last year, including a notoriously beleaguered payroll system and more educator vacancies than neighborhood school districts.
“We want to send the message that San Francisco schools are back on track and making common-sense decisions,” he said.
Ridgeway acknowledged that the measure does not require the school district to revamp the curriculum. However, if the measure passes, the district would have to go against the will of the voters to continue with its current curriculum, he said.
The board will weigh in on math policy recommendations on Feb. 13, including whether to reintroduce algebra in eighth grade.
