That being said, I think the idea that these things shouldn’t be required is even worse. The exact mandate of four years of math might not be good, but I don’t see how we can call what our schools provide a decent education, if we don’t even guarantee that students learn the course material of Algebra II. (If they’re college tracked at all, quite a few universities want some background beyond second year algebra.)

I guess it all depends on what one thinks of as the goal of education. Personally, I figure that, if we set our educational standards at the minimum of what is needed to “function well in modern society,” as Joel says, we’ll get exactly what one would expect – a society that is, on the whole, just barely functioning.

We live in a world where our nation’s students already perform well behind our countries’ in mathematics and science. We also live in a world where higher education is becoming more and more important in the job market, where the well-educated from places around the world are suddenly able to compete on an equal footing with Americans, and where science and technology are developing rapidly.

So, while it’s true that, if you consider the U.S. as somehow magically isolated, high school graduates not having a firm foundation in algebra isn’t that big a crisis, when you look at the real world, our poor, educational performance should be a cause of serious concern.

Which is to say that, yeah, mandating four years of math right now might be a bad idea. We should do the grunt work on preparing kids for algebra to begin with, before we tweak the degree requirements. But it’s an even worse idea to forget that we should be improving our schools so that they can teach the things people need to know – not cutting out subjects to cope with our ill-performing schools.

I think I’d be okay with the math bit if we altered the types of math courses offered. Only one section of all of the TN standards for a geometry course is actually titled “geometry,” for instance…so why don’t we allow kids who are struggling with algebra to take, say, just a semester of geometry or an algebra course that includes a unit on essential, geometrical ideas? I think most people would agree that, college-tracked or otherwise, algebra is more important. It was my experience, anyway, that most of what one learns in geometry is converted into algebra in Algebra II.

That being said, I think the idea that these things shouldn’t be required is even worse. The exact mandate of four years of math might not be good, but, certainly, it makes little sense

Good luck trying to implement this mandate. Seems like the school board ought to invite the local representatives to the state legislature for a special meeting to explain what color the sky is in their world.

I think we agree on what should be required; unfortunately, the State Board of Education and the Legislature have different ideas, and these new standards are the reality we must address.

One year of biological science and one year of physical science (assuming earth science counts as physical) is all the should be required for graduation from high school. Most high school kids will not get chemistry or physics anyway if they can’t cope with math beyond algebra I, unless these topics are dumbed down to the point of worthlessness.

Missing from your discussion are the English and history requirements. I believe that the ability to read for comprehension and with critical analytical skill is at least as essential as algebra I or a year or two of a foreign language. Likewise, the ability to write clearly, accurately, unaffectedly and concisely is a key job skill in most professions. A year of American history and a year of world history would seem to me to be minimal requirements for high school graduation; to be an informed citizen and responsible voter requires a basic knowledge of our historical legacy, past mistakes and their contexts and the basic role economics has played in diverse human societies.

High schools should offer curricula that enable the top students to reach their potential, but graduation requirements shouldn’t be geared to this cadre of student. For those whose education ends with high school, the knowledge to be a responsible citizen and the coursework that can get them into a community college later seem like sufficient and more realistic graduation standards.