[yellowpencil]

In public schools the only way to "vote with your wallet" is to relocate, the next best option which is less disruptive to a family is to opt out of the school system if the means are available.

What other options are there?

[kasey_junk]

Nearly every big city public school system in the country has moved to a model where you can choose which school your child attends in the system. With all kinds of magnet and charter options. Those schools are judged and rewarded based on their popularity. This was done largely to address your concern.

It has all sorts of other negatives associated with it but lack of choice in curriculum and staffing isn’t one of them.

[yellowpencil]

I'm in a big city and that is certainly not the case. I can submit preferred locations but ultimately there is a very opaque selection process and there is no guarantee made other than a seat somewhere in the system. I know some families who were on a waiting list for years to go to a school in their neighborhood (less than a half mile walking) and were only able to get in this year because of seats opening up due to city exodus.

EDIT - to add, what does this solve in the Cambridge, MA situation where the entire district has removed advanced Algebra?

[tptacek]

The context this comment is missing is that the district in question is middle school.

[ecshafer]

There are plenty of countries that you get algebra in elementary school. Saying it's only middle school is overly dismisive to the massive amounts of damage to mathematical education in the country this policy is doing.

[tptacek]

It can't be doing "massive damage" to mathematical education, because it has simply never been the case that significant numbers of students have ever taken advanced algebra in 8th grade.

[anon291]

I live in the inner city of a top 25 metro and my city is not like this at all.

[kasey_junk]

Name names and I bet with a simple google search I can find a charter public school with an alternative curriculum available.