Voting 9-0,  the State Board of Education approved the common core standards in English language arts and math Monday after major players in California education, including the California Teachers Association, the state PTA and the California Math Council, lined up to announce their full support. California became the 33^rd state, plus the District of Columbia, to adopt common core. It did so an hour before the deadline for either passing them or losing points toward the state’s Race to the Top application.

The standards broadly outline what skills and concepts students should master at every grade level. They were developed under the direction of the National Governors Association and the Council of State School Officers, at the encouragement of the Obama administration.

Last month, the California Academic Content Standards Commission voted 14-2 to recommend common core standards supplemented by the addition of algebra standards in eighth grade and a sprinkling of additional standards in English language arts, including some dealing with oral presentations and cursive writing.

State Board members had the legislative authority only to vote the commission’s recommendations up or down. Most did the former with enthusiasm.

Board President Ted Mitchell called common core “a critical, historic opportunity for the state.”  Board member Ben Austin called common core “smarter” than California’s standards and said experts know more now than a decade ago, when California adopted its standards, about preparing students for college and careers.

Yvonne Chan,  principal of a 1,900 student charter school in Los Angeles, said she asked all of her teachers review the common core. They were impressed that common core has fewer, clearer, more focused standards that are logically sequenced from grade to grade. English teachers used to the state’s concentration on literature liked common core’s balance between literature and non-fiction, informational texts in upper grades. Math teachers were impressed with presentation in lower grades of fractions and whole numbers, which are critical to grasping algebra.

Common core spreads the instruction of Algebra I over eighth and ninth grades and includes the introduction of geometry in eighth grade.  With a majority of students in California now taking algebra in eighth grade, Gov. Schwarzenegger insisted that the state keep that commitment. So, under the fortified common core, students will have the option of taking algebra in eighth or, for those who aren’t ready for it, pre-algebra.

Two years ago, the California Teachers Association and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) sued the State Board of Education over its decision to make Algebra I universal in eighth grade. But on Monday, both organizations announced their wholehearted support for common core with eighth grade algebra included.

ACSA’s Sherry Griffifth said that for the first time, students not ready for algebra will nonetheless have a strong alternative, instead of being forced to take sixth and seventh grade math over again.

CTA Vice President Dean Vogel expressed one reservation: The State Board must monitor districts, he said, to prevent tracking,  in which  minority and low-income students would be steered to less rigorous pre-algebra.  John Deasy, on his first day as the new deputy superintendent of Los Angeles Unified,  echoed that view.

Two dissenting commissioners, Bill Evers and Ze’ev Wurman, led a vocal campaign against common core math. They said that common core standards wouldn’t prepare students for algebra in eighth grade — an assertion that many organizations disputed.  Or, as the California Math Council said in a statement, even if they complete algebra in ninth grade, students will be better prepared to take Algebra II and Geometry: “While algebra is important, it is equally important to ensure that students have the opportunity to be successful in algebra the first time they take it.”

Evers and Wurman also argued that the new algebra course that the commission created, a combination of common core eighth and ninth grade standards with some California algebra standards thrown in, would be an unmanageable load.

But the State Board was careful in its vote to approve grade-level  standards and not specific courses. That may be nothing more than semantics;  74 standards are now part of eighth grade math. Or  it could allow a future curriculum development body, which the Legislature must create, to package a new algebra course with a different combination of standards.

Common core’s English Language Arts standards were less controversial. But a half-dozen speakers implored the board to align the state’s English language development standards for students learning English with the common core standards. That may prove one of the biggest challenges for the next stage: implementing common core through writing grade-level curriculums, adopting textbooks, creating new standardized tests and training teachers on how to teach the new standards.

Citing an EdSource estimate, Evers and Wurman warned that common core will cost $1.6 billion to implement – money that is not in the state or federal budgets. But there was little talk of future costs on Monday, other than a reminder, in ACSA’s letter of endorsement to the board: “With implementation must come full funding.”

By joining common core, California will be in a position to participate actively in a federally-funded consortium of states that will create new national tests over the next three years. It will also be able to lobby for changes in common core standards over time, as problems surface.