Forcing algebra, foreign language on students harms basic math and English skills.

As a teacher for 37 years, I watched numerous changes in education. The mandate of countless hours of creating local assessments has, for all intents and purposes, come and gone. It should come as no surprise to most teachers.

I don’t know how many times I asked, “When would you like me to teach and learn with my students?” Being with students was the best part of my day, but these ancillary mandates caused me, and others, to retire. I miss my “second family” at school, especially the personal relationships we developed as a family.

I worry about the estimated 25 percent of our students who are supposedly taking “watered-down” courses to graduate, according to Susan Gendron, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Education. I’d prefer to call them basic courses – or survival courses – as not all children can, or want, to attend college.

A good friend of mine in education saw the need for a regional technical school system for those “25 percent.” (It’s probably more like 50 percent.) Unfortunately, students who would enjoy this college prep cannot, because the schools are full.

Are these kids being robbed of a chance to pursue a career early in life? I have the utmost respect for kids who graduate as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, cooks, mechanics, etc; I am totally deficient in these skills, and jealous of the financial status they will attain compared to a teacher.

Suggesting that all students being mandated to learn algebra and foreign languages also seems to run contrary to the theme of each child as an individual. Curriculums should allow for this.

More time should be spent on basic math and English. Another friend, a mathematics teacher, says 30 percent of his students are unable to comprehend the four basic functions using whole numbers, fractions and decimals. These are lifetime skills. Why are we teaching algebra instead?

Gendron, as quoted in the Sun Journal on Jan. 31, stated algebra was a tool for everything, including letting students become an auto mechanic. It seems my one year of algebra wasn’t enough for me to learn to change my spark plugs. Algebra should be offered, but not forced on every student.

Requiring foreign language instruction is equally ludicrous. I’ve corrected many papers in my lifetime, and capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, run-on sentences and spelling are skills lacking from a spectrum of students. Why teach a foreign language, when so many cannot master basic English? They need English to create a resume, fill out job applications, and write a readable letter.

“We live in a global community, and we need a foreign language,” is a mantra I’m tired of hearing. We should make foreign languages available, but again, not forced on students. If we choose the latter, we are setting them up for failure.

The president of Central Maine Community College, Scott Knapp, is right. Students need to be better prepared before going to college. Algebra and foreign languages aren’t the answer. The amount of students who cannot read at their grade level is staggering. Usable math and language are necessities for survival in life.

I haven’t used algebra, my four years of foreign language instruction, since high school. Somehow, my wife and I own our home, put two kids through college, and my wife and I retired financially sound. We choose to work part-time jobs. How did we accomplish this?

Good problem solving and decision-making. We should be spending more time in our homes, and schools, teaching this generation of young people these skills.

George A. Ferguson taught for 37 years in the Lisbon school system until retiring in 2006. He lives in Sabattus.