The concerns this petition seeks to address: We  are concerned with changes in the SUSD math offering under the new Common Core curriculum that have the potential to impact ALL our students.

ALL SUSD students today have the opportunity to take Algebra I in 8th grade, putting them on a path to take higher-level math and science classes in high school. There are also students who today are accelerated to Geometry in 8th grade. The standard Common Core pathway delays Algebra I to 9th grade for most students and offers less opportunity for acceleration of advanced math students. However, SUSD has a great deal of flexibility in how it implements Common Core to best meet the needs and achievement levels of our students.

We believe that the Common Core curriculum adopted in Saratoga must NOT result in ANY of our students having less opportunity in math.

Background: Saratoga Elementary and Saratoga Middle schools are recognized as outstanding California schools at the state level. Saratoga High School is a nationally recognized high school that maintains high standards of academic performance as demonstrated on state testing and national rankings like the recent Newsweek national rank of 81 with an average SAT score of 1959 and an average AP score of 4.1.

Statement of Need: Recent international test scores demonstrate a clear national under performance for United States schools in mathematics and science. Recent United States performance on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) demonstrates the US lagging with an international ranking of 36. The ability to perform in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is correlated with early education exposure to science and mathematical concepts.

Parental Concern: Traditionally, the Saratoga Union School District (SUSD) accommodates a wide diversity of student talents, interests, and academic priorities in offering multiple pathways for mathematics success. The concern is that 5th grade through 8th grade is a critical period in terms of preparing students for Saratoga High School, college placement, and ultimately employment opportunities. Currently, the community is relying upon gap filling measures (self-study, tutoring, private summer school) not provided by the school district. The school district directly benefits through highly prepared students in terms of superior high school performance and college placement. Therefore, as parents we support SUSD with the following:

A. Establishing a clear road map for improved performance with transparent milestones through an evidence based evaluation.
B. Developing pathways to align the success of Saratoga students in a high performing school district that serves Saratoga High School towards achieving university admission.
C. Developing additional entry points for movement between accelerated mathematics pathways for all students.
D. Tailoring changes in the mathematics curriculum for advanced mathematical talents, interests, and priorities of all Saratoga students.
E. Supporting the academic goals of parents in the Saratoga public education system in terms of curricular depth and breadth through a wide range of alternatives that serve the needs of each student.
F. The implementation of the Common Core Standards that addresses the needs/desires of Saratoga High School students to take Calculus in their junior or senior years.
G. A carefully tailored grade by grade action plan specific for the unique needs of Saratoga students with reasonable reassessment must be developed based upon the mathematical framework as published on the corestandards.org/Math website (see enclosure: Common Core Math Standards Grade by Grade).
H. An implementation of the Common Core Standards that furthers the advancement of Algebra 1 and Geometry education in middle school. NOTE: Based upon 4 years of recently published data, less than 10% of Saratoga High School students enroll in Algebra 1 in the 9th grade and one third of Saratoga High School students enroll in Algebra 2 in the 9th grade.

The pathway we need to build for our students is towards success and top notch colleges in America - where many of our students typically end up. Let us help them towards that by making the right K-12 choices. We don’t want the lack of academic offerings to limit their college options and adversely impact our college bound students. That would also not be good for our school district in the long run.

Lets build a comprehensive K-12 plan. Let’s make prudent well thought-out choices. It is the future of our students (and the success of the school district) at stake.

NOTE: Signers of this petition will be subscribed into the SUSDParents email group, to keep you updated with the latest information on this topic and future SUSD related topics. You can also subscribe yourself here https://groups.google.com/group/susdparents