BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The Palo Alto school board voted 3-2 tonight (Jan. 21) to eliminate honors biology, instead grouping all freshmen in the same introductory class.
Board members Rowena Chiu and Josh Salcman voted to keep honors biology while Alison Kamhi, Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal voted to move to a single course.
Tonight’s meeting was about freshman science, but it reflected a broader debate around “de-laning” — when should students be allowed to advance, and when should they be grouped together?
In this case, teachers said they had a consensus that a single class would make the transition easier from 8th grade to 9th grade, when students are still learning what level is appropriate for them.
“We’re so excited to teach this course because it’s truly about the learning, and not about a label for honors or for a grade,” said Joshua Little, a science teacher at Gunn High School.
Teachers have been working on a single biology course for seven years. They don’t want to make changes to honors chemistry or physics, said Liz Brimhall, who has taught science at Palo Alto High School since 1997.
“We really want to give all students a really strong foundation and springboard so they can access our various science pathways, including honors,” Brimhall told the board.
Salcman said he wanted to see more data around the decision, and he was interested in trying a pilot course first.
“I don’t feel completely confident that our other experiences with de-laning have been unqualified successes,” he said.
Chiu said she’s heard from students and parents who fear the district will eliminate other advanced classes.
“Do we trust our high school students with autonomy and choice, to decide for themselves what their learning journey looks like?” Chiu asked.
A handful of students and parents said they want a biology class that challenges them, and they’ve been bored in middle school.
Students said the change would disproportionately impact girls, who are more likely to try biology than other kinds of science.
“I’m very passionate about STEM, including life science and biology,” said Katie Hu, an eighth grader at Greene Middle School. “I want to take a science class that challenges me and moves faster than a regular class, and I was really looking forward to honors biology.”
Teachers said they can challenge their advanced students while supporting their struggling students.
Ken Dauber, who was on the board from 2014 to 2022, said voting against a unified class would discourage teachers from innovating in the future.
“You’re not professional educators, so you don’t have the ability to make the kinds of technical educational decisions that they’re making,” Dauber told the board.
Dharap had the same perspective.
“People have concerns, but they don’t work with our kids every day,” Dharap said. “To not vote for this would be a disastrous mistake”
Segal also said she wanted to trust teachers.
Kamhi said the decision was tricky but in the end felt the vote was limited to biology and not a broader approach.
Rowena Chiu and Josh Salcman understand why public schools are shedding students. Most parents prefer their children not be merely “adequate”.
Parents are spending 40, 50, 60, $75,000 on grammar, middle and high school. In the bay area public, private and charter schools are all teaching pretty much the same curriculum. It is debatable at best what the extra tuition covers that a free public school vs another private school would be lacking to pay the extra tuition per year. This appears to be grounds for an illegal networking pull about who knows who that gets kids into schools they otherwise would not be getting into. Pay the extra tuition and have access to people and resources other kids don’t. Why is the pressure there for wealthy families to pay for these schools and to give their kids unnecessary resources that the remaining population doesn’t have access to? These sorts of scenarios about honors classes, GPA’s over 4.0 etc have put so much pressure on kids that are not ready for them and are being pushed into situations that are unforseen- like suicide rates of GUNN high school students etal.
Is that worth it? I would say no. I think parents need a reality check and no grammar school or middle school or high school should be costing $45,000 or $70,000 a year plus just to gain status, better networks and programs that are unnecessary. Do a weekend or afterschool program that doesn’t cost that and still allows kids to have fun and be kids. Protect your kids
Kalifornia is doomed. Good luck. My family was in public education in California for almost 100 years. My Dad predicted the downfall when Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education. It’s been a slow ride down to the lowest common denominator since then. My Dad got his graduate degree in Education from Stanford after serving in WW2 and other family members have been Principals of high schools, Superintendents of high school districts and Deputy State Superintendent of Schools.
I had to attend junior college during “high school” because they wouldn’t offer advanced placement courses in the late 1960’s.
“Leave it to the professionals” is the last arrow in the quiver of the fools running the public education system today.
Why do think that all the “elites” have their kids in private schools? Paly was the go to school into the ’70’s.
Good luck to the parents of kids going to Palo Alto public schools.
All schools seem to have problems. Finding teachers that stay is another issue. Perhaps club sports that take over kids weekends and holidays is another. Social media spreading communications quickly. Lack of close friends. Or maybe even the competitive nature of wanting to be better than someone, driver the better car, have the netter clothes, eat at the best restaurants, live in the elite zip code and the lost grows longer.
Time has change and our current priorities have lost our values in connecting with people and instead wanting material objects more. Education is no different, people are leaving schools because of status, networks, and stem programs or things noone needed decades ago. Why do kids need to worry about AP biology on junior high or high school.
Our values and priorities in these things have disconnected u from people. We walk by homeless, we miss family dinners , we have become selfish. Maybe a stretch in thoughts but it’s not far off . Everything is connected.
Texas schools have simply surpassed those in Palo Alto.
Palo Alto is living on past glory and current high taxes.
More than 40 AP courses and 50 honors courses.
PAUSD just not good value for money.
I stand firmly with teachers. PAUSD students load up on honors and AP courses then blame teachers for feeling “stressed”, and that they don’t have time for anything but homework. PAUSD has had major PR issues with mental health in the last 10 years and it’s 99% because parents are making their kids take the hardest classes. Teachers get the brunt of the blame when a kid has a panic attack or gets a bad grade. Having taught in PAUSD, I can tell you the district goes out of their way to make sure kids stay balanced with things like no homework days, etc. But because all of the parents want their kid to go to Harvard, they end up overloading them and burning them
out. A lot of kids who are struggling with math are forced into AP classes by their parents, then get a bad grade, and then blame the teachers for not teaching well or being unfair. This nonsense needs to stop. I left PAUSD even though the principal wanted me to stay because I felt the way that parents were pushy about everything was toxic. I’m very happy in a new district now, and I’m not getting blamed by helicopter parents.