The politics of math: Is algebra necessary to obtain a college degree?

Algebra problems like this one are at the heart of a dispute over the level of math deemed necessary to earn an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college. Failure to complete intermediate algebra has stumped tens of thousands of California community college students each year, keeping them in a limbo that has sparked increasing criticism of the state’s (and much of the nation’s) one-size-fits-all math requirement. More...