*This is my sole opinion, and I understand/respect all opposing opinions. This does not reflect the thoughts of Team 256 as a whole, but a majority of us (I asked around)*

*Start rant*


Wow, is this really happening? Are people actually debating over whether or not we need Algebra? I never thought it would come to the point where my education is being questioned.

Looking at the opposite side of the argument, it does make a lot of sense, though! Why teach kids skills they'll never use? If I'm a grocery bagger at a supermarket, I won't use the information I learned about the Great War. When I graduate college with my masters degree and take on my lifelong dream of digging ditches, will I use the Calculus I learned? Why even waste my time learning how to use correct grammar in my AP English class when my boss says I'll never have to write anything during my job as a janitor? We don't need all of this useless information if we're going to have really low standards for ourselves, strive to do very little and not try and accomplish things in our lives!

In case your haven't found out, that entire last paragraph was sarcasm. That's what I'm seeing from this article and those who agree with it. These people are seeing an obstacle in their lives, and instead of working hard to pass over it, like the good old American way, they want to eliminate it so they don't need to deal with it at the time, which just shows the laziness and low standards people want these days. We should be striving for the high level careers that change the world, and better humanity, not for a low-leveled job, and those world-changing careers use math. KrazyCarl's simile comparing a broken ball harvester mechanism to the kids failing Algebra was one of the best things I've heard on this topic. It's time to get the engineers in here, because these people are fixing the wrong problem. Students are failing. Is it because the subject is too hard and useless to them? Seeing as that there are still many students who pass Algebra can say it isn't too hard (My friend Carlos hated math, but understood Algebra and passed easily), and Algebra is used very much in the world today, so I'd say, No, Algebra itself is not the cause of the failing students. So taking away Algebra is just about the dumbest thing someone can try and do to fix the problem. I fail to comprehend why there are people in this world who are so blindingly unintelligent that they seem to think this is even a possible solution to anything. You might as well just take out the school system completely, because that's the exact same as taking out Algebra. If you don't want to do something because you don't think you'll ever use it, then you're doing things wrong. I am disappointed that this subject even came up.

You want kids to pass Algebra? Get a better curriculum! Teach so that kids will understand! Invest money in our school systems! Don't pass students who fail to reach the requirements! I can name over 20 things that we as a nation can do to fix this problem, and if I actually put some thought into it, I could probably think of 20 more. There are excellent ideas on this thread on how to raise the pass rate of Algebra, and I'm half tempted to send it over to the people who wrote this article.

You get what you celebrate, and in today's culture a positive attitude towards math and success in it isn't celebrated.

*End of rant*