Opinion: In Saturday’s Letters to the editor
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
In Saturday’s Letters to the editor, readers sound off on abolishing the electoral college, the Beijing Olympics lip-syncing controversy, Tim Rutten’s column on Obama Nation and The Times’ new publisher, Eddy Hartenstein.
More thoughts on algebra requirements for 8th graders, too. Andrew Needle, a teacher in Van Nuys, thinks we’ve all made the algebra monster out to be more scary than it really is:
Elementary students are told time after time in numerous ways that algebra is hard. ‘You’ll learn that in algebra.’ Their older siblings are having trouble in algebra. Parents tell us (in front) of their students that, ‘They come by being math-phobic naturally because I had trouble in algebra.’ Algebra is simply a game... and as with any game, you need to understand the rules and practice.
*Photo: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times