Thread: California's ($3B) Algebra Problem

Outrageous! 1/2 of LAUSD cannot even read or write in English! Algebra would be like giving them a course in brain surgery!


California's algebra problem

Even if there were money to pay for it, the state's new algebra mandate would still be a bad idea.August 16, 2008


Now that the State Board of Education is foolishly requiring every eighth-grader to take algebra, starting in three years, all that remains to be figured out is, how on Earth is this going to happen when so few kids are on track to get there?

The solution, according to state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, is to spend $3.1 billion on a "California Algebra I Success Initiative" that would recruit and train math teachers, lengthen the middle-school day, reduce class sizes in math and so forth.


The ideas are good enough. Essentially, though, they're a political ball tossed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who pushed for the eighth-grade requirement. (O'Connell opposed it.) The governor took on the easy part of school reform, in which he got to call for an unrealistic standard and proclaim that California was the first in the land with such high expectations. Will he now refuse to pay for the math requirement that he said was so necessary? That's a possibility. The algebra funding would add about 5% to the state's total allocation for public education, money that is not readily available even in a good budget year.

The state Department of Education says the proposal's details haven't been figured out, but the algebra initiative outlines specific expenditures -- this much for after-school tutoring, that much for a summer program in grades 4 through 8. The state should be moving away from such so-called categorical programs, in which schools can obtain money only if they agree to spend it in predetermined ways. If the state has extra funding for schools -- and it doesn't right now -- it should let them decide how best to spend the money, and hold them accountable for the results.

The money would definitely help improve math achievement, but even this much can't prepare all or most eighth-graders to take algebra successfully within three years. There are too many years of math skills that must be built up. Schools already are pushing more middle-school students toward algebra because of state incentives, but of the 52% of eighth-graders taking algebra, less than 40% test as proficient, statistics that were dismissed in the rush to set up a bright, shiny math requirement.


Here we have a request for $3.1 billion that the state doesn't have to solve a problem that was artificially created by the governor and the State Board of Education. With quick-fix requirements that aren't fixes at all, and continual new "top priorities" and initiatives, it becomes ever clearer why California schools are in a perpetual state of turmoil.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la- ... 4440.story

Pain math is much more important than algebra. And, of course, I use algebra every day at the grocery story and gas station.

Outrageous! 1/2 of LAUSD cannot even read or write in English! Algebra would be like giving them a course in brain surgery!

You are too funny.

I am absolutly brain dead in math.....well, Algebra. I'm a product of the "new Math" experimental generation. Sometimes I think that's why the government figures just don't add up.....they were in my class.

Originally Posted by crazybird

I am absolutly brain dead in math.....well, Algebra. I'm a product of the "new Math" experimental generation. Sometimes I think that's why the government figures just don't add up.....they were in my class.

Say Algebra and I go . I get nuts. I can spell, organize, etc. but I hate math. I had a bad teacher and that confused me. I can learn anything but the teacher has to be a real teacher. My hubby can do it in his head.

Say Algebra and I go . I get nuts. I can spell, organize, etc. but I hate math.

Same here. I can do geometry and other math forms to a degree. But Algebra floors me. I was put in an Algebra class in HS. They gave us the color in the dot test and I literally just randomly colored in dots. Got like a 98 on the test. Needless to say, it wasn't long till they figured out I couldn't cut it.....yet were amazed I scored so well just coloring dots. I took elementary Algebra 2 x's in college and failed. The teacher tried so hard.....I got to a certain point and was just lost. He kept saying.....hang in there.....one day the light-bulb will click on and it will make sense. After the second try he figured my light-bulb was burned out. It's really slayed me because I need it to get to Chemistry and that's all I need to finish. Heck I had to take the basic math for college too. Great teacher but boy would he embarrass me. I am a finger counter. Take my fingers away and I'm lost. I'd be working so hard on a test and he'd say something like....would it help if you took your shoes and socks off? Took me awhile to catch what he ment....but no....just my fingers will do fine. Then a few years later they're putting a calculator on the list of school supplies for 1st graders.

Educating illegals children is a responsibility that does not belong to the American Tax payers! Send them ALL home to Mexico or their country of origin....using whatever means we have, etc.


I heard that Mexico offers every student that enrolls in school a car and a new house...check it out Illegals!