San Francisco Supervisors, Parents Want to Bring Back Middle School Algebra

Frustrated parents and some city officials are seeking to undo 10 years of limited access to advanced math courses in middle schools in San Francisco by putting the matter to voters in the form of a ballot measure. “Removing access to 8th grade Algebra 1 was an experiment … and it failed,” the SF Guardians, a group founded by parents to recall members of the school board and now focused on math policies, wrote on their website. “‍It’s time to bring algebra back.” In a controversial decision, the San Francisco Unified School District—better known as SFUSD—board of directors passed a so-called “detracking initiative” in February 2014 that removed Algebra I from middle school curriculums, with officials writing on its website that such was needed to level the playing field for all students....