More new math

Now, another new math experiment concocted by the state’s public education gurus worried about weak student math scores, the latest in a long series of inevitably wasteful academic gyrations the state has attempted through the decades, is underway.

If local public school boards agree to utilize the recommended techniques (perish the thought), the phrase “counter-productive” will again be an understatement. Unhappy parents are already lining up to fight its use in their pupils’ classrooms.

Any clear-cut emphasis on deducing a correct answer as easily and seamlessly as possible by using time-honored methods and proven, reliable means is being eased out in favor of vague learning concepts based on such trendy variables as societal relevance, cultural equity, ethnic fairness and, of course, everyone’s favorite, diversity.

How any of such high-sounding notions are relevant when it comes to learning the important rudiments of computation and the solving of math-related problems is a real head-scratcher.

As the memorization of simple arithmetic tables and important formulas, the important building blocks of this ancient discipline, becomes passé right along with an emphasis on standardized testing and objective, straightforward letter grades as a measurement of student progress, you have to wonder what it all means.

Is the aim to water down the state’s math curriculum to a point where aiming for excellence and accelerating achievement are no longer primary goals? Is it to make math classes increasingly unchallenging so nearly any pupil with a pulse can claim to be “proficient?” Is it to bore, frustrate and hold back the brightest pupils?

What’s the point? We don’t see our international economic foes reducing math requirements or discouraging academic rigor. Quite the opposite.

Are we consciously trying to become an engineering/science backwater on the competitive world stage? Are we surrendering a demand for excellence based on merit and tangible benchmarks for politically correct and misguided reasons? Sure looks like it.

The inevitable losers will be our inquiring best young minds and the country at large. Small wonder we need a huge and regular influx of engineering/science talent from beyond our borders to make up for our own self-imposed deficiencies.

YET ANOTHER CARLMONT WINNER: Speaking of the enduring value of academic excellence and verifiable merit, it just keeps getting better and increasingly noteworthy for the outstanding 2023 senior class at Carlmont High School.

Last week, the National Merit Scholarship Corp., based in Evanston, Illinois, announced that yet another member of that gifted cadre along Alameda de las Pulgas in Belmont had received a belated award, among the most coveted in the United States for high school seniors.

The eleventh hour addition of Hudson Fox of San Carlos to an already impressive list of honorees brings the Carlmont total to a gaudy 10 National Merit winners.

That figure, by far the largest this year of any San Mateo County secondary school, public or private, also represents the most National Merit scholarship recipients produced by a county public high school in recent memory.

Once again, very nice work.

COASTSIDE BAKER PASSES AWAY: Rudy Mazzetti, who founded and operated a longtime business, Mazzetti’s Bakery in Pacifica, has died, according to the Pacifica Tribune’s website.

He died last month. His funeral was held in Burlingame last week. His enterprise, a signature coastside operation located on Manor Drive off Highway 1, has been serving its loyal customers fresh baked goods for 50 years. It’s still going strong.

You can get in touch with John Horgan by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com. His new book, “Cradle of Champions, A Selected History of San Mateo County Sports,” is now available at the county’s History Museum store in downtown Redwood City.