ELA’s most recent win: No 8th-grade Algebra I mandate
Published: June 1, 2010
The school funding lawsuit filed by CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance last month follows on a record of success the Alliance has had with other efforts on behalf of public schools—including, most recently, in its challenge to the California State Board of Education’s July 2008 decree requiring all eighth-grade students to be tested in Algebra I skills.
California’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on April 28 upheld a preliminary injunction granted to the Alliance, joined by the Association of California School Administrators, that prevented the State Board from implementing its June 2008 move to require Algebra I tests of all eighth-graders. The appellate court agreed with the trial judge that the State Board had violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act by failing to give adequate notice of its intended action.
“We are pleased by the judges’ ruling recognizing the legal consequences for the SBE’s violation of the open meeting laws,” said CSBA President Frank Pugh, “but it’s unfortunate that the SBE chose to spend further time and resources on this appeal, especially given the board’s concession that it had violated the open meeting law.”
The lawsuit centered on the State Board’s failure to adequately inform the public before it abruptly voted to make the Algebra I end-of-course exam “the sole test of record” for federal measurements of eighth-graders’ math skills, starting in 2011. The lack of notice denied the public an opportunity to speak to the significant repercussions the policy would have on all aspects of the education system.
“A significant reallocation of resources would be needed in order to make the systemic changes necessary to prepare eighth-graders to be successful in Algebra I,” CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin noted in welcoming the court victory. From changes in teacher credentialing and professional development, instructional time and materials, and alignment of math standards throughout the lower grades, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell estimated it could cost more than $3 billion to properly prepare all eighth-graders for the Algebra I test.
Easy link: