Opinion: Eighth grade algebra adds up

San Francisco eighth graders don’t know much about algebra and it’s time to fix that problem. Thanks to Supervisor Joel Engardio and four other Supervisors, voters in March 2024 can weigh in on if we want our public school middle school students to learn algebra. This proposition is actually about more than math - it’s a message to the school district to serve our kids better.

San Francisco public schools removed the path to eighth grade algebra almost ten years ago. The story pushed was that the prior path was inequitable. Now we know this experiment has been an utter failure. The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) even stretched the truth when they said the plan was successful.

Superintendent Matt Wayne made the case clear in May. He said, “Our current approach to math, in SFUSD, is not working … Black and Brown students are not benefitting from the current way we do math in the District.”

I had the opportunity to take algebra in seventh grade at Presidio Middle School in the 1980s. In eighth grade, I won awards in a national math contest and was profiled in AsianWeek newspaper.

This past year, Rex Ridgeway had to pay for summer tutoring for his granddaughter’s math classes as public schools could not accommodate her interests. In another publication, Ridgeway wrote, “these workarounds consist of pay-to-play external courses, which are difficult for low-income families to afford.”

In the meantime, middle school algebra is offered in public school districts around the San Francisco Bay Area. In some of those school districts, students can take algebra in seventh grade.

The need to have a middle school algebra option is even more important today. Artificial Intelligence and STEM jobs are a pathway up for immigrants, underrepresented minorities and other families.

It doesn’t take algebra to know we need eighth grade algebra.

The wording of the planned proposition has some strong specifics. It reads, “It shall also be the official policy of the City and County of San Francisco to support the SFUSD in developing a coherent math curriculum for elementary and middle school students rooted in educational excellence…”

Why are the Supervisors advising on books and what to study? Good question. A better question is why is the person who put in the bad math curriculum still in charge at SFUSD?

Superintendent Wayne has been good about communicating the problems. His administration has been short on wins. Teachers are not being paid right. Teachers take too long to be hired. Budget deficits aren’t solving themselves.

Reports say the District wants to roll out a middle school math program in February, after a new task force does some work. Should the new plan include eighth grade algebra, some say the Supervisors may pull this planned Proposition from the ballot. The fact is everyone gets mail-in ballots in February.

Our kids grow up fast.

Putting in eighth grade algebra is not like solving centuries old math problems. We can just dial up people in the East Bay and crib their notes. We may even be able to ask ChatGPT.

Leadership needs to recognize what needs to be done and make it happen.

Imagine a sixth grader who loves addition and subtraction and shows an interest in learning more. Right now that students will spin their wheels and maybe lose interest.

Now imagine that same sixth grader taking eighth grade algebra. They take calculus in high school. They can have a world more of choices ahead.

Let’s not lose more families to other places where they can learn algebra in middle school. Let’s not have more families pay for tutoring. Let’s make our schools places we can be proud of.

Voters will have a say in just a few months.

Note: Laurance Lem Lee is a 2nd-generation Chinese American and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) graduate. He has been a community activist and advocate for better public school system at SFUSD and San Francisco Board of Education since the recall school board movement in 2020.