[Seaplaner]

“This is a civil rights issue, but this is also something that plagues all Americans — particularly low-income Americans,” said Oakley. “If you think about all the underemployed or unemployed Americans in this country who cannot connect to a job in this economy — which is unforgiving of those students who don’t have a credential — the biggest barrier for them is this algebra requirement. It’s what has kept them from achieving a credential.”

This is precisely what President Dubya meant when he described "the soft bigotry of low expectations.".

Students desperately need to learn self-discipline and responsibility and achievement.

And, a successful completion of college algebra just might open some doors and give an earned feeling of accomplishment to those students who need it most.

Who would be the biggest losers if college algebra were eliminated (or diluted into oblivion)?

Underachieving minorities.

.

[TigerClaws]

For leftists using “a civil rights issue” means “you lose, debate over.”

They think all they have to say are those magic words and all discussion ends.

Saw it with ‘gay marriage.’ Seeing it with this nonsense.

[grania]

This downward spiral started in the 1980s. Before that IQ tests played an important role in determining aptitude for courses (such as Algebra) that require analytic skills. Interestingly, the "low IQ" student who struggled their way through and mastered Algebra usually improved that IQ score.

Without IQ scores, standards for the necessary skills went down and students get ahead of themselves in Math. Add to that, too much reward is given for "group participation" and other stuff that can circumvent Math skills. For many of these CC students to be able to get up to speed, they'd have to start filling in the gaps starting with elementary school math. The teachers and students are all too lazy and unmotivated to do that. JMHO

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“This is precisely what President Dubya meant when he described “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”.”

OR, low expectations based on generations of experience, observation and IQ test scores. The pattern is always the same, minorities fail to meet standards others have met for hundreds of years, spend millions of dollars trying to increase test scores, fail, lower the standard.