Sacramento - “We are pleased that the Sacramento Superior Court ruled in favor of students and public schools today and against the State Board of Education’s mandate imposing Algebra 1 tests on all eighth-graders. The State Board of Education acted abruptly and without fully understanding the consequences of its actions on our schools, teachers and students.
“The Court was very clear that the State Board of Education overstepped its bounds and does not have the authority to mandate that every eighth-grader be tested in Algebra.
“Had the decision been allowed to stand, schools would have had to begin preparing all eighth-graders to take the Algebra 1 exam now.
“That means we would have had to immediately hire about 3,000 more teachers and properly train about 1,000 more who are either underprepared or teaching in other subject areas. All of this at a time when schools are facing another $2.8 billion in cuts this year and $7.2 billion if the Legislature doesn’t find new revenues.
“The State Board of Education’s action to mandate that all eighth-graders take an Algebra 1 assessment test whether or not they have taken an Algebra course was another one-size-fits-all approach that would punish students and public schools. It is another example of No Child Left Behind and the federal government dictating to California how to teach our students. It is never fair to force students to be tested on information they have not been taught.
“CTA strongly supports academic standards and achievement for all students. We believe that both standards and assessments must be appropriate for students at each grade level and in each subject, and that students must have appropriately trained teachers and the necessary textbooks and instructional materials to help them learn.”