Gozinta

I can't do basketball much any more -- not that I ever really could -- but if I had to, I'd try the occasional layup shot. No, Bill it goes through that hoop up there, on the pole. And I could probably slog my way through some history (Genghis Khan is related to Chaka Khan via Shaka Zulu, right?). But you know what courses I wouldn't want to take again? As in, I don't even want to be near people taking them?

Math.

And I'm not alone. Most parents don't care for math. Even if they liked it as a kid, or even majored in it while in college (like my wife), they usually don't like it, later on. Its not as bad as in Peggy Sue Got Married (I happen to know that in the future I will not have the slightest use for algebra, and I speak from experience); we do recognize that the concepts might be of use, but not very often, and certainly not beyond the absolute basics, such as measurement of an area, or -- well, thats about it. Calculus? Irrational Numbers? Forget it. Get lost. Man, I'm glad I don't have to do that any more.

In my case, I came to a moderate appreciate of math late in life. I can't do calculus, but I understand what you're doing, and why you might want to be able to do it. I understand the idea of imaginary numbers, though they seem weird to me. But I get the feeling that such awareness puts me ahead of many parents, yet behind lots of high school students. And that number is going to get bigger, if the math teachers have their way. Of course, I view 'math teachers having their way' with the same (almost) lack of enthusiasm as I view Cindy McCain getting to chose the drapes for the oval office. After all, those are the people who inflicted New Math on us (and some still say that was a good idea, badly executed).

But according to the Washington Post, there's a new awareness that math should be regarded as something that's for the masses, not the nerds. And the people who teach it (who like it, for some ungodly reason) are ramping up to make it happen.

If they can.