On The Importance of Algebra

Terrance, at Republic of T, is haunted by the story of Gabriela Ocampo:

Last year, she dropped out of the 12th grade at Birmingham High School in Los Angeles after failing algebra six times in six semesters, trying it a seventh time and finally just despairing over ever getting it. So, according to the Los Angeles Times, she “gathered her textbooks, dropped them at the campus book room and, without telling a soul, vanished from Birmingham High School.”

This is a story that is repeated thousands of times all over the Los Angeles Unified School District. As someone who probably understands algebra even more than English, I am very interested in this problem and in contributing to the solution. I'm not convinced that every person who graduates from high school in California needs to have passed two semesters of Algebra. Why is this a societally beneficial requirement? Don't misunderstand, I do think that numeracy is important. However, there are a lot of very important aspects of modern day life which are not improved, assisted or mediated by high school level algebra. Other skills, such as understanding Excel spreadsheets, the ability to compute percentages and per capita costs (i.e. if the 12 oz jar of food stuff cost $1.89 and the 1 lb jar cost $2.89 which one is cheaper?) and understanding compound interest would lead to a profoundly "better educated" citizenry, in my opinion.