Math

Years ago when I was filled with youthful optimism, I felt that a college degree was best described as making green greener. What I meant was a good education would help a person understand things in a way that they could see the beauty in the world. It takes art education to see the beauty in a painting. It takes an understanding of literature to get the full pleasure out of a good book. For these reasons I felt a solid liberal arts curriculum would be the best formal education. I have now changed my perspective. Students graduating today with degrees that provide little opportunity for gainful employment while they are stuck with unpaid loans are a drag on the economy. If a student is going to invest four or five years and a couple hundred thousand dollars, they best get a degree in science or engineering or perhaps business. It is sad that it has come to this but the writing is on the wall, having a degree in theater arts is not going to get it done. We live in a high tech world and this requires people who have a solid understanding of mathematics and schools are not getting the job done. Mathematics is the language of science and too many of our students are math illiterate. I have been substitute teaching for the past two years, mostly at the high school level and I see to many students who are getting passed along and they have little to no understanding of basic math and this means they will choose majors in college that will leave them in debt and without a job. School districts around the country are bagging about improved graduation rates but they fail to say that the kids may be graduating but they are math ignorant. We are fooling ourselves and will not compete with other countries like China and India until we recognize the importance of math. There is still opportunity for those who go on to professional schools like medicine and law but for those with bachelor degrees, math is essential.