Please create an ALGEBRA BY 8TH GRADE OPTION in all SFUSD middle schools. Without the Algebra by 8th Grade Option public school students in SFUSD will not be able to reach AP Calculus by Senior Year. The option is fully consistent with the Common Core math curriculum and has been adopted by many other Bay Area schools.  More than 70% of the country provides accelerated pathways in math for middle schools, and SFUSD should be no different.  Studies clearly show that the lack of an accelerated pathway in math hurts the highest achieving students, irrespective of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

The Common Core supports accelerated pathways and an option to reach algebra by 8th grade.  The rigorous standards of Common Core math guarantee that even those students who choose not to participate in the accelerated option will receive a solid math education and will not be disadvantaged by the presence of the accelerated pathways.  Parents should have this choice, in consultation with teachers, in all of our SFUSD middle schools. 

 Photo credit:  ajaxofsalamis under CC license.