On the Math Monday Bandwagon

It's Math, Math everywhere today.

I must have been asleep not to notice this depressing column from the Washington Post. Hey, says successful news guy, you disadvantaged kids don't need to know math. It's too hard, and kind of a pain, and hey, you won't need it if you're like me.

Fortunately, P.Z. Myers--one of the bloggers from the Future of the Book conference--jumps all over this. Pharyngula, thanks. Eduwonk rounds it up here.

My thought, though, is that perhaps math teaching can be improved so all kids can learn algebra. Maybe it's not that math is hard, or boring, or unnecessary. Maybe none of these are true. Maybe it's about better teaching.

Meanwhile, Education Wonks are also doing math. Not surprisingly, our beloved 'Wonks are one of the more "energetic" teachers in the school.

This all goes back to a few weeks ago, when folks in Washington were talking about the US needing more engineers and scientists, and some suggested that maybe we should improve math and science education to get it. I guess Richard Cohen would disagree with that solution.