The Necessity of Math in Schools

There was an article published on Sunday in the New York Times: Is Algebra Necessary. I read this article and was pleasantly surprised by it. As a physics educator, I'm in favor of a very strong mathematical background for students, but for some students, math is an arcane skill that fades into obscurity when they get older. How many high school graduates revisit the quadratic equation in their jobs?




There's a climate of mathematics as the enemy in circles that are algebra-deficient. Students (of the algebra-deficient variety) learn to hate math as they, sometimes in multiple futile efforts, combat their own mathematical demons.

As is my philosophy, I cannot declare an idea invalid or deficient without suggesting another. I suggest creating curriculum and national standards for an applied quantitative logic class that can give the students a survey or various mathematical fields at a level that they may encounter them. Some statistics, some algebraic manipulation, but no quadratic formula or the law of cosines. This is not a suggestion for everyone, I must emphasize that this is for those students that are not mathematically inclined.

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