Common Core: SF Delays Algebra 1 to High School

Because of the implementation of Common Core Standards, the San Francisco Unified School District will delay offering Algebra 1 to middle school students, forcing them to wait until high school.

Lizzy Hull Barnes, mathematics program administrator for the district, claimed numerous eighth-grade students struggled or failed with Algebra 1, telling Bay Area public radio station KQED, “Those students are now in a cycle of failure.” She insisted that the district wants all students to receive high-quality math instruction, as that is a social justice issue. District officials dismiss the idea of tracking students.

The district asserts that algebraic concepts will be introduced as early as kindergarten to prepare the students for Math 8.

The Los Angeles and Oakland school districts will still offer Algebra 1 to their brightest students.

Some parents, furious at the district’s denial of Algebra 1 for their kids, are fighting the district on abandoning Algebra 1 for middle schoolers. Melody Hernandez, mother of an incoming eighth-grader, told KQED, “It’s very disappointing to me that our education system is really starting to be this cookie-cutter approach. It’s not feasible….I really don’t want [my son] to lose his engagement in school because it’s not moving at a fast enough pace for him.”