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By a huge margin, San Francisco residents voted Tuesday in favor of returning algebra to the 8th grade after a decade-long experiment failed to provide the equity-minded results the school district pledged upon removing it in 2014. 

The 83,916-to-16,105 March 5 tally, according to from the San Francisco Department of Elections, reflects public frustration with the district鈥檚 decision to delay the course for all students until the 9th grade. Not only did it deny advanced learners an opportunity to challenge themselves with rigorous coursework 鈥� and put them on track for high school calculus  鈥� opponents said, but it also did little to boost Black and Hispanic student achievement in the subject. 

There are in San Francisco. Turnout was roughly 21% on this Super Tuesday, which also included the presidential primary and the primary to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Bay Area Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

The algebra ballot measure is not binding and the school board had already to return the course to the middle school. But the results did drive home a lesson to a board that has for failing to perform to residents鈥� satisfaction. 

鈥淭he voters have made it very clear they want our public schools to teach as many kids as much as possible,鈥� said Patrick Wolff, who had children in the district from 2010 to 2022. 鈥淭he people of San Francisco understand that true equity and justice in our public schools never requires compromising academic excellence.鈥�

Wolff, cofounder of Families for San Francisco, which was later absorbed into TogetherSF, said he wants the board鈥檚 vote 鈥� and the public鈥檚 鈥� to bring lasting change. 

鈥淚 hope that our elected officials and public school administrators have heard the people鈥檚 message,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he only way to keep public school reform on track is for the people to keep being informed, engaged and involved.鈥�

SFUSD鈥檚 struggle with algebra reflects a nationwide battle over when to introduce the topic. Student participation varies across the country. While some school systems, including Dallas, have crafted policies that have greatly increased students鈥� chance to take the course in middle schools, others use highly selective enrollment processes, which often leads to the exclusion of Black, Hispanic and low-income children. 

Rex Ridgeway, who, along with several others, regarding algebra last year, expected strong voter response. 

鈥淭his was the first time that the public was able to speak out publicly about Algebra 1 after 10 years of damage to our kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was not surprised by how passionate people are on Algebra 1.鈥�

The answer can鈥檛 be that the district simply returns to an earlier, failed approach, said one expert whose organization promotes math policies that support equity in college readiness and success.

鈥淪o, the prior tracking policy didn鈥檛 lead to equitable outcomes,鈥� Melodie Baker, national policy director at Just Equations, told 社区黑料 before this week鈥檚 vote. 鈥淒etracking didn鈥檛 lead to equitable outcomes either. So it makes sense that they鈥檙e not sticking with it, but they鈥檒l need to find new ways to implement eighth-grade algebra that ensure better outcomes for Black and Latinx students. Not just revert to what they were doing before.鈥�

Meredith Dodson, executive director of SF Parents, said Wednesday that the public鈥檚 work to improve SFUSD is not over.

鈥淚n addition to finally bringing algebra back to middle school, our district also needs to figure out how to better prepare kids so more of them can access algebra in middle school and higher level math beyond that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e know we still have a long road ahead to make sure that every student has the academic support they need coming from our district 鈥� and that starts early.鈥�

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