How did it come to pass that only managing Algebra 1 by eighth grade came to be considered "honors"? This would be considered standard or below-par in Japan (same timing, but material is more involved), for instance.

It's little surprise that you can put everyone in an "honors" track when many countries have as their standard track something that is considerably more demanding!

Access to education is extremely important for both the individuals, who benefit, and society, which also benefits--and of course we want robust education for all ethnic groups. So this is a great step in the right direction! But there's a lot of room left to give better opportunities yet--if 60% of 8th graders are doing well with Algebra I, one would expect that a good fraction of them would have been perfectly well able to handle it in 7th grade, had their mathematics education been properly supported.