Dear Friends of the Algebra Project,
If Bob Moses were still with us today, I think he’d be asking friends of this work in civil rights and algebra for so many years to please support the Algebra Project and to help us shift into a space where we can share our math learning resources with students and teachers in a hybrid environment and organize nationally with schools and communities.
Like many organizations, we’ve been hit by reduction in grant funding this year, while the schools we work with have had their budgets cut. We’re making progress in shifting to new streams of funding, but we’re asking if donors can give more this year to help us optimize in the current moment, and to share our work with friends that you think may also be interested in supporting the Algebra Project.
When I first met Bob in the spring of 1989 what impressed me was his bold conviction that every young person — regardless of race, zip code, or income — can and must master the mathematics needed to shape their own future. He framed math as a universal civil right in the Information Age, just as voting rights were central to the Black freedom movement of the 1960s. In the spring of 1992, I joined Bob and a burgeoning team at the Algebra Project, all committed to crafting the instructional materials, teacher professional learning programs, as well as the local and national organizing needed to support students and teachers, schools and communities to raise the floor of math literacy for all young people.
This fall, as inclusive STEM programs, research, and public education are increasingly under attack, that conviction has never been more urgent. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), nearly 4 out of 5 U.S. 12th graders are not proficient in math — more than 2.8 million students each year graduating without the mathematical foundation they need for college, careers, or civic life in the 21st Century.
We know it doesn’t have to be this way. For decades, the Algebra Project has shown that all students can succeed when given rigorous, engaging instruction and strong community support. Our students have:
- Taken Algebra I by 8th grade,
- Passed statewide exams in Algebra and Geometry, and
- Graduated high school on time and ready for college.
Today, we’re building on that legacy through our Accessible Calculus Project, helping students connect the math they learn in Algebra and Geometry to the core ideas of Calculus — ensuring they’re ready for advanced study in careers and college.
And we’re thinking bigger.
Through our new 10-year national campaign, Math Makes Movement (M3), we’re organizing in classrooms and communities across the country — from Atlanta to Austin, Englewood to Jackson to Miami — to build a nationwide coalition for math literacy. With early support from the Cisco Foundation, we’re piloting hands-on learning programs, teacher professional development, and community math events. Our upcoming Digital Learning Lab will extend this reach even further, bringing innovative math experiences and new educational games to schools and families everywhere.
The challenge is urgent, and deeply inequitable. Only 5% of Black, 8% of Native American, and 9% of Latino/a 12th graders are proficient or above in math, compared to 25% of multiracial, 28% of white, and 53% of Asian and Pacific Islander students. At the same time, this crisis impacts all communities: the 95% of Black 12th graders NOT proficient in mathematics represent more than 490,000 students, while the 72% of white 12th graders NOT proficient in mathematics represent more than 1,200,000 students. And these figures are just for one year! This crisis in education is a challenge to our democracy and to our shared future.
At the Algebra Project, we believe transformation happens with those most impacted. That’s why we work alongside students, teachers, families, administrators, and community organizers to make math literacy a national priority.
Your partnership makes this possible.
With anchor support from the Cisco Foundation and the National Science Foundation, we’re poised to expand. But to reach more schools, grow our local campaigns, and stabilize our core operations, we need your help.
Please consider increasing your gift this year — or introducing us to others who share our vision. Your support fuels the movement for math literacy and opportunity for all.
Thank you for standing with us in this critical work. Together, we can guarantee that goal Bob Moses articulated so eloquently in the 1980s: that every student attains the math literacy needed to shape their own destiny, and, that all students are prepared to participate fully in the economic and civic arrangements of the 21st century.
With gratitude and solidarity,
Ben
Benjamin Moynihan
Executive Director
The Algebra Project, Inc.
Donations to the Algebra Project are fully tax-deductible. Our FEIN# is 22-3137788.
Checks can be made payable to:
The Algebra Project, Inc., 99 Bishop Richard Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139
Online giving is available via: https://www.justgiving.com/charity/thealgebraprojectinc
The Algebra Project, Inc. also gratefully accepts donations of stocks.
Please email ben@algebra.org for DTC#, and related details. Thank you!