When will we ever need this stuff, anyway?

As reported here and as we discussed in class in connection with Medieval learning, the Michigan legislature last week passed the new graduation requirements for high schools, including the requirement for four years of math. If you follow this link, you will go to the State Department of Education page. On that page are several links to documents and opinion pieces in favor of the recommended, and now adopted, changes in the state-mandated curriculum. Needless to say, the Department of Education did not feel compelled to provide a "fair and balanced" presentation of opposing viewpoints.

For example, here is a piece written by Jim Ballard, a representative of High School principals. In it, he makes the case for additional math requirements beyond Algebra II.

Producing more highly educated college and technical school graduates does not guarantee that good jobs will come to Michigan. But failing to do so guarantees that they won't.

The landscape has changed. High school students planning to enter a career or technical trade need to learn the same English and mathematics content and skills as those who plan to go to college.

Michigan's math deficit

Forty percent of Michigan high school graduates skip math their senior year. And fewer than half -- 41 percent -- take any math beyond Algebra II.

States that are doing the best economically have 61 percent of the students taking the tougher mathematics classes.

For the sake of Michigan's future, we need to stop asking whom college is for and start acting as though it is for everyone (emphasis mine--DD). Only then can we ensure that everyone is prepared -- no matter what choice they make after 12th grade.

To be ready for college, a Michigan high school student needs four credits in college-preparatory English; four mathematics credits, including Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II and above; and mathematics in the senior year.

If you follow the logic, Michigan students need more math experts in order to be more competitive with other states who have a more highly educated work force.

On the other hand, perhaps you would like to read this piece by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post writers' group. Here is an excerpt from the lead:

The L.A. school district now requires all students to pass a year of algebra and a year of geometry in order to graduate. This is something new for Los Angeles (although 17 states require it) and it is the sort of vaunted education reform that is supposed to close the science and math gap and make the U.S. more competitive. 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.

Read the piece, and you will discover that the author finds it altogether plausible that a person can get along fine in life without algebra, despite the outrage of mathematics teachers!

Although this piece was, admittedly, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I don't think this one from the Ann Arbor News should be taken lightly. The author, apparently an anonymous African-American, fears that the effect of these graduation requirements will be to cause an increase in the dropout rate and cause a further racial divide between whites and blacks. Here is an excerpt:

We have to look at kids as accomplishers who make simple mistakes. We are confused as to the meaning of what we are learning because nothing we learn is apparent in our day-to-day life. Even if you ask a teacher the meaning behind stuff you are learning, especially in math, they will explain it is simply as something you need to learn. There is no practical reason in the present (or if so, it is not explained) and the present is where young people live.

My high school transcript records a year of Algebra I and a year of Geometry. No more math. I did, however, take four years of Latin and two of German. God gifted me with abilities in language; I definitely do not care for math. Without embarassing anyone by naming names, I can tell you that one of the students from the LCS class of '05 was similarly gifted with a flair for languages and history, but struggled to perform well in math. I like to think that I have successfully negotiated life without ever becoming curious about the intricacies of advanced mathematics. Other people have that interest and it is going to be of value to them in their career. Good for them. Calculate away!

If the real interest in having demanding standards for high school graduation is to prepare 18-year-olds to be competitive in the work force, as Mr. Ballard (not that Ballard, the one quoted above) seems to advocate, then perhaps the best overhaul of the entire educational system would be one in which the college-bound student could be prepared one way, and the student who wants to repair cars or be a plumber could prepare themselves another way. Let them be apprenticed to a master mechanic, electrician, or plumber like they did in the Middle Ages. It seems to me that such students would be thrilled to be working hands-on in their future trade, while not becoming bored and disruptive in the pre-college classroom.

What's your opinion? Is a one-size-fits-all liberal arts curriculum the best educational preparation, or is there a better way?