No, the issue is if you don't take algebra I by 8th grade then you won't take advanced math. Nobody is considering algebra I tk be advanced, the key is when you take algebra I in order to move on. Turns out, whether you take algebra I before high school has less to do with how good you are at math and more to do with (frankly) segregation. This is an article revealing in data how modern day segregation works.

I'm a product of NC schools. When going to grade school in the 90s I did not realize that those schools desegregated less than 10 years prior. The advanced classes were essentially all white. Those advanced classes in early grade school position you for the slow track, or the fast track.