[fdye]

So as someone who took many of those remedial math classes this article rubbed me a bit the wrong way. Not necessarily that any of his descriptions are wrong about the students or the type of things it covers. Instead there seemed to be this underlying theme in the article about it being a waste of time and of little value to society. I strongly feel any time us as humans sit in a classroom and try to better ourselves even when we ultimately fail, it benefits society overall.

Personally, I was in the basic math in High school, like long division/multiplication freshmen/sophomore year. When I first went to community college around the age of 16-19 I got farther, taking Algebra I and then II. However, once I reached Calculus I crashed and burned, although I did great in my CS and other science classes.

I eventually entered the work force (programming/tech) and over the next half dozen years tried and failed at least 3 times to restart at community college usually failing at Calculus I or college level english. Finally, at 30 it seemed to take, I eventually passed Calc I, Discrete, Linear, got my degree. A blend of community college and state school so I didn't break the bank.

I have friends from other sides of the world that have told me this would only really be possible in the US. In many places their is no equivalent of community/junior colleges or an attempt at adult remedial education. Instead you place in your teens, and if you score well enough you get to go to college. Otherwise, its trade school or similar and much more difficult to escape your socio-economic class. The author and others seem to be advocating for something similar here under the guise of it being unethical to waste resources or give hope to the dumb dumbs. I can't say I agree...

[nearbuy]

He's talking about taking students who can't do grade 7-9 math and charging them $200,000 and several years of their life for the promise of a career they almost never get. These students are getting screwed over hard. Most of them don't want to be taking the class.

[littlekey]

I understand where you're coming from, the author definitely had a chip on his shoulder, but what he's describing is a situation where the students clearly do not want to be sitting in that classroom. They're being manipulated to believe they need to take out loans and go to college to succeed. That system just ends up wasting the time, money, and mental health of everyone involved.

[jnwatson]

There's a huge difference between failing Calculus and failing Algebra. Calculus is not required for most degrees. Algebra is required for almost all.