Every Berkeley student deserves an excellent math education.

BUSD is choosing a new math curriculum right now, starting with elementary school. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity, we want it to succeed!

1. Make decisions based on evidence. An evidence-based math curriculum uses clear, step-by-step lessons grounded in how our brains learn best. By helping students practice the basics until they are automatic, students are able to solve harder math problems on their own.
2. Share the K-5 math adoption plan with families. Share which programs are being tried and how the district will choose between them. Put math adoption discussions on board meetings quarterly so families can follow along and weigh in. 
3. Plan for all grades together. Math builds year over year. What is chosen for elementary school shapes what is possible in middle and high school. Include middle and high school math in the same decision process, so that our community sees one plan from K-12.
4. Stop the ‘pay-to-play’ system for advanced math. Commit to a clear pathway for students who are ready to move ahead. Today, over a thousand Berkeley families pay for outside enrichment like Berkeley Math Circle. Advanced math must be accessible inside our public schools, not privatized.

If you need more context on why this decision matters, please read our summary of how this system is failing all kids today 

"By the second week of the semester, I already know who is in trouble. Some students are five to eight years behind in mathematics. Office hours that should be spent discussing integrals instead become lessons on fractions and basic algebra you would expect students to learn in middle school."
- Zvezdelina Stankova, teaching professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley

"We were told that the new math curriculum...discouraged standard algorithms — the traditional vertical algorithms for arithmetic — in favor of invented strategies or less efficient, overcomplicated procedures. We were assured this approach promotes “conceptual understanding” but, as mathematicians, my husband and I were skeptical."
-Anna Stokke, Host of Chalk & Talk podcast. www.annastokke.com, Mathematics Professor, University of Winnipeg

"Data from the last 30 years lead to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that’s true not simply because you need something to think about."
- Daniel T. Willingham, K-12 Cognitive Scientist, Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia