I will tell you EXACTLY why they are “struggling”. The math teachers are les incompetents, is why. My son has had teachers making 50G plus or more at the high school level in our “excellent” school district who were dumber than a box of hammers about math or how to teach it. My son is a math natural who was talking about negative numbers at the age of four, so he told me he just taught himself out of the book. When he went to college, he tested into an avanced calculus class freshman year. However, that class was taught by a Chinese “TA” no one could make heads or tails out of what he was saying. So again, my son had to teach the subject to himself.
My daughter, a student at the best private school in the city and had a “genius” woman for a math teacher. The majority of we parents were also paying for tutors for our individual students who knew how to get an idea from teacher to student cogently, unlike the “genius” who was responsible for teaching the class. So on top of exorbitant private school tuition, we are paying taxes and for private tutors just to get middle school math basics. Oh and you dare not say anything about any of the teachers due to possible repercussions.
The little secret is all math is self taught, it requires DISCIPLINE which is a four letter word for liberals.
I’ll second it about the teachers not being able to teach. I tutor middle school math. The kids are confused, the teachers are either math-illiterate or used to be engineers and cannot remember ever learning math; the math tutors are in high demand. The books are awful, too - seem to be written by drama majors not those who think math. I use the older texts whenever I can.
“My son has had teachers making 50G plus or more at the high school level in our “excellent” school district who were dumber than a box of hammers about math or how to teach it.”
Don’t take this personal, because it’s certainly not meant that way, but I suspect that you are like the people that I work with.
When my kids were little, I made a point of teaching them reading and math, simply because I didn’t trust people that are basically strangers with a political agenda, to do it correctly. It worked, and my kids got roughly 6 grade levels ahead of their age (right into college). I still sent them to (private) school, but they knew it was just for daycare, at least in reading and math.
My kids are not geniuses and have ZERO INTEREST in learning the stuff - and got their butts red many, many, times - in order to get them to focus - they were and are NOTHING SPECIAL.
Anyway, as I saw my first kid pick up reading at age 3.5 and become fluent and fast at it a year later, I told my co-workers - and their reaction was all the same: “That’s all nice, but we pay for the public schools and I intend to get my money’s worth.”
I have since given up on them and don’t even bother talking to them anymore - but it is sure nice that my kids are getting free rides through college.
“So on top of exorbitant private school tuition, we are paying taxes and for private tutors just to get middle school math basics.”
It’s really your complaint about paying taxes (for the schools). You’re more than welcome to complain about it - but I don’t. I NEVER expected anything of value in return - you imply that you did (hence your complaint), rather than just accepting the tax as the cost of living in this country and realizing it’s just another transfer payment scheme, which has no benefit to you, just like most of the income tax.
I knew that I would never see a dime of benefit from “school taxes” from the moment I moved out of my last apartment.
Let me just add that the people that I’ve dealt with on this are PERFECTLY NORMAL. Their educations got them to where they are, and most went to public schools - so why should they expect problems with public schools today?
I was different. I saw my sister get wrecked by the same “top-tier” public school that I went to (she got to me a test subject of their “new-math”), so I had some suspicions. So then I read Thomas Sowell’s books, even before my kids existed. Those two things are what convinced me that I could NEVER drop my kids in public schools. But how many would-be parents ever do that?
So, yes, I am abnormal. But what upset me was the near-universal attitude of others that there was nothing wrong with the public school system - even though their kids were meandering around well into their 20s (in some cases), trying to find a career. What I said had no impact...when it comes to me or a smiling teacher who says all is fine, the teacher wins, every time.
In your case, I have no clue if anyone told you how bad it is...which is why I don’t hold it against people I don’t know. But I do get a bit annoyed at people that complain after being warned of the what’s in store for their kids, if they continue down the “normal” path.
I had a teacher who was a "genius" who couldn't comprehend that we didn't comprehend what she was saying. NOT teaching.
We cheated (she didn't comprehend cheating, either) on the final and I failed. I had to take it again on my own and "passed." I never did believe that!
We also had a science teacher whose C & D students tutored when they got to college.
Grades are relative, I guess.
BTW, the Algebra teacher was a dear, sweet soul who really tried. The Science teacher was a tyrant but any time school is mentioned in my hometown, the conversation always turns to him and everybody who ever took a class under him has a tale to tell. My dentist said that those HS science classes got him through dental school.
I took a 9th grade General Science test 5 times and never did pass it. He finally quit giving it. We had the answers. One Q was, "Explain how a mercury light works; a doorbell; the difference between dry & wet cell batteries."
One of his good students went on to become the foremost authority on lightening in the country, a physics prof at Rice, and a consultant to NASA...among other important things.
All this happened 50 years ago when public schools were good. We could diagram sentences by 6th grade. I think they have done away with that, also.
Yes the right teacher is the answer to understanding Algebra. I flunked every Algebra class I had in my younger days- chose my college major from a short list that didn’t require it. A few years ago I decided to take some classes at a University branch...took remedial Algebra, had the greatest teacher ever, finally understood the basics and was able to go on to pass intermediate and college Algebra. I had no reason to do this other than a challenge to myself, at my age not likely to use it much and don’t remember a lot now but did prove to myself I could do it. There are just not enough Math teachers out there that are even decent much less good or great.
My oldest daughter is another example of the problems of poor Math teachers. She struggled with Algebra all through school while excelling at all other subjects. My daughter went to junior college and as luck would have it ended up in the Algebra class of a great teacher. Daughter excelled after that and ended up being the paid Math tutor for her nursing class when she went to nursing school.
I took self-guided Algebra in college and finished the course early with an “A.” I struggled through statistics because I had a teacher who should never have been in a class room. Finally had to ignore him and teach myself through the course, got a “B-” and was happy to get it.
Good teachers and curriculum make all the difference.