CSBA and ACSA granted injunction in Algebra I mandate 

The California School Boards Association’s Education Legal Alliance and the Association of California School Administrators were granted a preliminary injunction today in Sacramento Superior Court regarding their lawsuit against the State Board of Education. CSBA and ACSA were joined in the lawsuit by Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and the California Teachers Association. The lawsuit was filed against the SBE over its July 9 decision to mandate Algebra I for all eighth graders in California.

In October, CSBA and ACSA were granted a temporary restraining order that prevented the SBE from taking any action to implement the Algebra I mandate, including approving or executing a timeline waiver or compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Education. Today’s ruling makes that prohibition permanent, thus preventing the SBE from taking any action on that mandate until after a trial is held. A trial date has not yet been set and likely would not occur before next spring.

“We are pleased by the judge’s ruling and feel it further validates our belief that the SBE overstepped its authority,” said CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin. “Prior to making its decision, the SBE didn’t provide the public with an opportunity to express how such a change in policy will have significant ramifications for all aspects of the educational system. Now that the court has prohibited the SBE from acting on its decision, we call upon them and others who supported their action to enter into a coherent and sensible conversation about what our children need to meet the challenges of a complex world, particularly in this extremely difficult fiscal time for schools.”

In her ruling, Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang found that CSBA and ACSA were likely to prevail at trial on both of their claims. Those are that the SBE violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act by failing to give adequate notice of its intended action, and that it exceeded its authority by amending the state’s content standards.

On the first ground, the court found SBE’s contention that the public was “involved” in the decision since members of the education community were aware of the issue to be “unconvincing.” The court also agreed that, because the state’s content standards do not currently require that all eighth graders be instructed in Algebra I, the SBE’s action resulted in a change in the standards since all eighth graders would be required to take algebra in order to pass the Algebra I test.

The SBE argued that its July action did not require any immediate action by school districts because the testing requirement would not take effect until 2012. However, the court found that claim to be “shortsighted.” The judge agreed with CSBA and ACSA that the SBE’s decision would require California schools districts to make immediate, systemic changes—changes that would entail significant costs—to ensure students were prepared to take the Algebra I test.

CSBA and ACSA are represented by the law firm of Olson, Hagel and Fishburn.

Click here to view the judge’s order.