\jeff{krimmel}

Algebra Is Worthless

Or so claims Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. Mr. Cohen wrote about how Los Angeles is now requiring that all high school students pass an algebra course and a geometry course (gasp!) before they can graduate. In the world of some people, this requirement seems reasonable. To Mr. Cohen, it is an example of the failing of the American system of education.

There are several real howlers in this op-ed piece, but I’ll only reproduce a couple:

The L.A. school district now requires all students to pass a year of algebra and a year of geometry in order to graduate…All it seems to do, though, is ruin the lives of countless kids. In L.A., more kids drop out of school on account of algebra than any other subject. I can hardly blame them.

You can hardly blame them? You can hardly blame them for failing to pass a course that in some parts of the country students are taking (and passing) in sixth or seventh grade? You’re joking, right?

I confess to be one of those people who hate math. I can do my basic arithmetic all right (although not percentages)…

If you can’t calculate percentages, you don’t “do [your] basic arithmetic all right”. While algebra problems may not unearth themselves in the course of your everyday life, problems with percentages certainly do. The whole tax system is based on percentages. High school graduates need to be able to calculate percentages.

…[S]ooner or later someone’s going to tell you that algebra teaches reasoning. This is a lie propagated by, among others, algebra teachers. Writing is the highest form of reasoning. This is a fact. Algebra is not. The proof of this…is all the people in my high school who were whizzes at math but did not know a thing about history and could not write a readable English sentence.

I have to admit that this one is my favorite.

• Claim: Learning to write teaches reasoning. Learning algebra does not teach reasoning.
• Proof: Some people are good at math but can’t write.

What a well-reasoned argument, good sir. Now, I have a retort.

• Claim: Learning algebra teaches reasoning. Learning to write does not teach reasoning.
• Proof: Some people are good at writing but can’t do math.

And this guy writes for the Washington Post. The Washington Post! What are we supposed to do, limit high school graduation requirements to simple addition and subtraction? We can’t have these students doing any multiplication or division; that might be too confusing. And forget negative numbers. We can’t even mention that mumbo-jumbo.