California abandons algebra requirement for eighth-graders

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40. Nothing at all, however,

if we continue to dumb down to the lowest common denominator in our quest for 'individualism' and 'freedom' then no one, including the students, are served well by said choice.

If a student is developmental challenged and requires special education classes then no they will not be placed in a tract designed for all other students. This is as true yesterday as it is now today.

Your argument fails as prior to today, many if not most states did require Algebra I be completed by the time a student reached high school. We were not treated like robots. I was gifted so by the time I was in 8th grade I was doing Algebra II & Trig. Other classmates were not so they were doing straight Algebra I. So individual needs were still allowed within a working system that prepared students for college level math unlike today. Someone has already mentioned that many colleges are now forced to 'catch up' students that never received the requisite math classes necessary for college courses.

I just completed a letter of recommendation for a very intelligent young woman. She has now completed two years of courses in the CA community college system and wants to transfer to Stanford to complete a major in philosophy. She suffers no mental or physical challenges. She never had Algebra even in high school because her high school abolished such need and she was 'free' to choose other subjects which 'interested' her more. She failed her first symbolic logic class - an absolute must-have course for a philosophy major. Her parents asked me to assist her as I was a philosophy major, love mathematics, and do extensive computer programming. When I discovered she had never had Algebra, I immediately recommended she complete a summer school sequence prior to retaking logic. She did so. She passed it after much difficulty. She retook logic, and she got an A with greater ease. She had not been prepared to think 'logically' during her secondary education. This is not an isolated example.

You want your children to have freedom and individualism? Then give them an excellent education when they are young. Require those capable, and that will be most with few exceptions, to work towards a higher level of education not just settling for less. Without algebra and other such subjects, students never fully develop critical thinking skills. Without algebra, logic seems impossible. The number of young people that I counsel, teach, and interact with today who are lacking in critical thinking skills and logic is astonishing. True freedom is not about choices. It is about responsibility - responsiveness to a reality-based world all around them. Give others that chance instead of platitudes about sameness and robots.