Teachable Moments: Lawsuit decided on eighth-grade algebra
Sunday, May 2, 2010 
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The California School Boards Association won the appeal in its 2008 lawsuit against the State Board of Education, which was filed over the SBE’s decision to mandate Algebra I for all eighth graders in California. On April 30, the Third District Court of Appeal supported CSBA’s position and declared that the SBE had violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act by failing to give adequate notice of its intended action and violating the state’s open-meeting laws.
According to CSBA, “SBE had conceded to the court that it had violated the open meeting law and as a result, the court held that the SBE’s action mandating Algebra I for all eighth graders was null and void.”
The CSBA challenged the state board’s action to require school districts to begin testing students in Algebra I as the state’s sole eighth-grade math assessment. But the suit centered not on the decision to mandate Algebra I for all eighth graders but on the process, holding that the SBE failed to give the public adequate notice of its intentions.
The lawsuit addressed SBE’s failure to give the public timely notice that such a fundamental change in state policy was being considered. CSBA’s contention was that the SBE didn’t consider the public’s need to respond to the major ramifications that this revised policy would have on all aspects of the education system.
These concerns included teacher credentialing, allocation of instructional time, professional development, instructional materials, and areas in which existing kindergarten through seventh-grade math standards must be strengthened, CSBA officials said.
“The appellate court acknowledged that a significant reallocation of resources would be needed in order to make
Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-05-02/blog/teachable-moments/teachable-moments-lawsuit-decided-on-eighth-grade-algebra#ixzz0ms1paKDX
