CSBA RESPONDS TO STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION’S DECISION TO MANDATE ALGEBRA I IN EIGHTH GRADE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (July 9, 2008) – The California School Boards Association (CSBA) strongly criticized today’s decision by the State Board of Education on Algebra I, which will have the effect of mandating that all California students complete Algebra I in the eighth grade.

“Today’s decision is a classic example of a manufactured crisis,” stated CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin.  “This is a time when the state should be celebrating the progress made in the number of students taking Algebra I in the eighth grade.  The real crisis is how schools will be able to meet this requirement; the cost of which Secretary of Education David Long testified would be in the billions, when the state budget proposes to cut public education by a similar amount.”

“How did a discussion about enhancing the rigor of eighth-grade math assessments turn into a hysterical, ‘sky is falling’ argument about watering down standards? It defies belief and common sense,” stated CSBA President Paul H. Chatman.  “With due respect to those organizations and individuals supporting a rigorous education for our kids, on this particular matter they are enormously misguided.”

Holly Jacobson, assistant executive director for CSBA Policy Analysis, added, “This decision represents a fundamental change in policy direction with no basis in fact, or data to support it.  While there may be merit in revisiting when students should take Algebra I, to do so in the manner which occurred today ties the hands of those who know best, at the local level, what is appropriate for each student.  It just doesn’t make sense to require students to be enrolled in a course that they’re not prepared for.”

For further information, please contact Holly Jacobson at (916) 996-9215 or Patti Kelly at (916) 669-3244.