I don’t have access to this San Francisco Chronicle article, but it seems the war over the math curriculum in the school district there continues. And one of the flashpoints remains the decision to forbid 8th graders from taking algebra, which in turn makes it difficult to complete calculus in high school.
As a STEM professor at a large public university, I could not agree more. Limiting access to knowledge in the name of "equity" is a fantastically stupid idea that will only hurt the kids it is (wrongheadedly) intended to help.
I was reading Raj Chetty a while back and it struck me: how many years of training does it take to become a data scientist, or an engineer, or whatever?
Four years of college and two years of grad school to get a master's degree? Or is it more like 20? Six years of college level learning plus 14 years growing up in a house filled with books, where your parents read to you every night?
Yep. I actually pulled my kid out of a public middle school when they stopped offering Algebra in 8th grade and sent him to Catholic school. They’re not hurting anyone but the kids who really need a chance by doing this shit. My kids already have a chance.
There are private schools teaching linear algebra in high school and those kids will be competing against SFUSD students in college -- why would you want to put them at such a disadvantage? I took algebra in 7th grade, as did my kids and it was fine.
Making sure to get on the upper math track in middle school really is a big focus of parental college scheming, this push didn’t come out of nowhere.
If you think of it as a pure relative status competition, and don’t care if anyone learns calculus, the policy kind of makes sense. It’s just removing a hurdle that better-resourced parents know how to help their kids over.
Worked at Mathnasium for a few years. The curriculum provided by them doesn't go beyond like 7th-grade-ish. We usually helped with homework, so we wouldn't be teaching calculus unless a student had it as homework.
Doesn't undermind your point just wanted do contribute some of my extremely limited knowledge
I was reading about the SF School Board President who was recalled and all I could say was - she’s a left wing Marjory Taylor Greene - a certified loon. I don’t really understand how people A. Become that political and B. Become so nuts.
I mean, I wouldn't *forbid* algebra, but I do think schools emphasize it too much. If they wanted to replace algebra and calculus with more statistics, I think that would be better for everyone.
“Cutting out algebra, and in doing so making calculus a much less pragmatically achievable goal, is a perfect scenario for leaving poorer kids behind!“ 100%. This is segregation in the making. Meritocratic parents devote immense amounts of time to scheming how to help their kids climb the slippery pole. They know to do math in college you need calculus in high school. They can do the math, so to speak: that in turn requires algebra previously. It’s lockstep, formulaic. So if you remove the possibility from public schools, that omission will be circumvented — by those with the means to do so.
Some children like to learn. That includes mathematics. There is a sense of wonder and marvel at all this new learning. At least that is how I experienced it.
Why cut these children off from one of the great joys of life -- learning? Why force them into repetitive and boring drills of stuff that they already know, when you could have them developing naturally as their curiosity is awakened and slaked?
This is the best way to kill the love of learning.
Terrible thought: It’s being promoted, not in spite of, but because it has all of the negative effects you cite. Putting a skill ceiling on public school graduates indirectly increases the value of private education and therefore directly benefits the rich parents who can afford it. In this terrible and nihilistic thought, the follow-on would be that everything claimed about racial equity is either a lie or a delusion promoted because it makes it harder to criticize the policy.
Defining “privilege” as essentially middle class aspiration and then coming up with fantasy ways to restrict that instead of taking on capital is basically what standard liberalism has become.
As a STEM professor at a large public university, I could not agree more. Limiting access to knowledge in the name of "equity" is a fantastically stupid idea that will only hurt the kids it is (wrongheadedly) intended to help.
I was reading Raj Chetty a while back and it struck me: how many years of training does it take to become a data scientist, or an engineer, or whatever?
Four years of college and two years of grad school to get a master's degree? Or is it more like 20? Six years of college level learning plus 14 years growing up in a house filled with books, where your parents read to you every night?
Yep. I actually pulled my kid out of a public middle school when they stopped offering Algebra in 8th grade and sent him to Catholic school. They’re not hurting anyone but the kids who really need a chance by doing this shit. My kids already have a chance.
There are private schools teaching linear algebra in high school and those kids will be competing against SFUSD students in college -- why would you want to put them at such a disadvantage? I took algebra in 7th grade, as did my kids and it was fine.
https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/tribune/regional/california-math-wars-get-ugly-accusations-of-racism-and-harassment-ignite-battle-between-stanford-and/article_c4daf6a3-b058-5340-b01e-2cb8cb0f8f18.html
Making sure to get on the upper math track in middle school really is a big focus of parental college scheming, this push didn’t come out of nowhere.
If you think of it as a pure relative status competition, and don’t care if anyone learns calculus, the policy kind of makes sense. It’s just removing a hurdle that better-resourced parents know how to help their kids over.
Worked at Mathnasium for a few years. The curriculum provided by them doesn't go beyond like 7th-grade-ish. We usually helped with homework, so we wouldn't be teaching calculus unless a student had it as homework.
Doesn't undermind your point just wanted do contribute some of my extremely limited knowledge
I was reading about the SF School Board President who was recalled and all I could say was - she’s a left wing Marjory Taylor Greene - a certified loon. I don’t really understand how people A. Become that political and B. Become so nuts.
Maybe the nuts comes first?
I mean, I wouldn't *forbid* algebra, but I do think schools emphasize it too much. If they wanted to replace algebra and calculus with more statistics, I think that would be better for everyone.
If all cannot succeed, then none can succeed.
“Cutting out algebra, and in doing so making calculus a much less pragmatically achievable goal, is a perfect scenario for leaving poorer kids behind!“ 100%. This is segregation in the making. Meritocratic parents devote immense amounts of time to scheming how to help their kids climb the slippery pole. They know to do math in college you need calculus in high school. They can do the math, so to speak: that in turn requires algebra previously. It’s lockstep, formulaic. So if you remove the possibility from public schools, that omission will be circumvented — by those with the means to do so.
Some children like to learn. That includes mathematics. There is a sense of wonder and marvel at all this new learning. At least that is how I experienced it.
Why cut these children off from one of the great joys of life -- learning? Why force them into repetitive and boring drills of stuff that they already know, when you could have them developing naturally as their curiosity is awakened and slaked?
This is the best way to kill the love of learning.
It's the great Vonnegut story "Harrison Bergeron" come to life. I didn't think I'd live to see it.
Terrible thought: It’s being promoted, not in spite of, but because it has all of the negative effects you cite. Putting a skill ceiling on public school graduates indirectly increases the value of private education and therefore directly benefits the rich parents who can afford it. In this terrible and nihilistic thought, the follow-on would be that everything claimed about racial equity is either a lie or a delusion promoted because it makes it harder to criticize the policy.
Defining “privilege” as essentially middle class aspiration and then coming up with fantasy ways to restrict that instead of taking on capital is basically what standard liberalism has become.