A Sacramento Superior Court judge blocked a controversial plan that would have made California the first state to require all eighth-graders to be tested in algebra.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and various teacher groups vigorously opposed the mandate – issued last July by the state Board of Education – because they said the state lacked the teachers and resources to teach algebra to all students.
"We cannot just tell our students and teachers the end goal and expect them to get there on their own," O'Connell said.
Opponents of the mandate, including the California Teachers Association, said another 3,000 teachers would have to be hired to prepare students for algebra testing so soon, a tall order as the Legislature is expected to make severe cuts in education funding.
State School Board President Ted Mitchell, a proponent of the algebra mandate, called the tentative ruling "disappointing" and "an unfortunate roadblock to higher academic achievement," in a statement released Friday.
The decision is a blow to the state school board, the governor, who supported the mandate, and some civil rights advocates, all of whom pushed for expanding algebra instruction to boost sagging math proficiency.
The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators sued to overturn the mandate in September.
The plan would have required all eighth-graders to be tested for algebra proficiency by the end of the school year in 2012. Eighth-graders are already supposed to take algebra, according to the state's curriculum, and the performance index for schools that don't meet that standard has suffered.
As a whole, Sacramento area schools fare better than the rest of the state in terms of qualified math teachers. More than 80 percent of county middle school algebra teachers are fully credentialed with a math authorization, compared with 66 percent statewide.
California students have tested poorly in algebra, considered a gateway to other fields, with roughly three-quarters failing to reach proficiency in 2007.
Civil rights advocates have pointed to poor math skills among black and Latino students, a drag on their educational advancement.
High school students must pass Algebra 1 to graduate, and state universities require three years of high school math, which generally includes algebra, for admissions.
While opponents of the mandate say they don't want to keep students from learning algebra, they argued California schools lacked the resources and staff to prepare all eighth-graders to test proficient so quickly.
O'Connell called the mandate "ill-considered" and hasty.
He said the schools would need more than $3 billion to pay for the new teachers, added professional development, smaller class sizes, textbooks and other resources needed to meet the mandate.
Judge Shelleyanne Chang said the state board of education overstepped its jurisdiction and acted without sufficient public input, according to her ruling.
Call The Bee's Robert Faturechi, (916) 321-1098.
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