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Entry: The Math and Science Myth Tuesday, February 07, 2006

This may come as a surprise from a math teacher who daily professes the virtues of the subject, but I don't believe a shortage of math and science exists in America. There is absolutely no need for President Bush to spend his proposed $50 billion over ten years promoting quantitative skills in our schools. Why? Because the labor market does not warrant such a demand absent government intervention.

By definition, a shortage in any type of labor implies the demand for labor exceeds supply. Under such conditions, the higher demand for a given quantity of mathematicans and scientists exerts a buying pressure on the labor market that drives prices up. The increase in prices (i.e. wages) lures people into the math and science profession until the market clears.

As evidenced by the higher unemployment rates among math and science people with PhDs than the general population, such a shortage does not exist in America. The marketplace value of the mathematics discipline ($61,761) falls far below that of law ($109,478) and business ($79,931). Yet the government continues adhering to the fallacious pretense that a sufficient number of lucrative careers await mathematicians and scientists in the labor market.

The subsidization of these disciplines can prove disastrous. In creating false price signals that draw American youth to believe they can bank on a future vocation that isn't there, the government will only further add to the ranks of the unemployed.

The always eloquent Lew Rockwell comments:

(By subsidizing math and science in job-training institutions, Bush) is not only raising false hopes, diverting career paths, and wasting money, he is raising a non-problem and purporting to solve it with a non-solution. The central-planning approach to boosting science was tried and failed in every totalitarian country, and the same will be true in nominally free ones as well. Still, it seems that megalomaniacs just can't resist the urge to push the idea, which is why mathematicians and scientists leftover from Soviet days are driving cabs and tending bars in today's Russia.

While I continue to believe teaching my students math will impart them with redeemable skills, I must object to the false notion that a shortage exists in the subject. We must prepare students for the "real world," not deceive them with the fancies of central planning.

5 comments


	Anna February 7, 2006 11:28 PM PST It is interesting that you say that careers in law and business are far more lucrative than those in math and science, because the corresponding school subjects--civics and economics--get virtually neglected by my school district in favor of putting more effort towards improving reading and math scores. The Philadelphia policy on academic promotion is self-contradictory. It states that eighth graders must pass all their core subjects (in other words, obtain a C or higher in reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies) as well as a D or higher in their elective courses in order to pass to high school. However, they are only tested on writing, reading, and math for the state standardized test. Furthermore, as it is financially unrealistic for schools to adhere to such otherwise unobjectionable promotion guidelines, the district looks at students' TerraNova (another standardized test where they are only tested on reading and math) scores. As a result, social studies and science become "secondary" core subjects and given the shaft. Schools are required to set aside TWICE the amount of time in a school day for math and English class than they do for science and social studies. Many students erroneously begin to believe that the latter two subjects are not as important, and therefore not pertinent to their ultimate goal of passing the 8th grade. I find this appalling. First of all, I essentially teach not ONE subject, social studies, but FOUR: history, civics, economics, and geography. The lack of a clearly standardized curriculum--oh, there's a core curriculum and standards, but the standards are extremely broad and vague--certainly does not help either. The trend does not seem to be on the upswing. In 2007, SDP will start putting the same kind of emphasis on science as they do now with the "primary" core subjects. Where will that leave social studies? In the dust. (So many of my friends, who teach in the popular team-teaching format that Philly loves, where one teacher will teach one class both English and social studies while the other teaches math and science, have said that all the emphasis on English have caused them to often neglect to teach social studies altogether. It'd be nice if all subjects were taken this seriously. My students know literally nothing.


	slappz February 10, 2006 10:45 AM PST There is an artificial shortage of "math teachers" in the public school system. The shortage is the result of arcane and pointless hiring criteria that exclude engineers and science majors from receiving certification to teach math. Engineers take many high level math courses, but not enough to meet state requirements for math teachers. Thus, an engineer considering a career change to teaching math faces expensive and time-consuming obstacles in his way. An engineer who passes the Math Content Exam should receive certification on the spot. But it doesn't work that way. So many qualified people simply find other jobs to which they are hired into without expense or pointless study.


	Chaz February 18, 2006 07:06 PM PST I guess the many vacancies in Math & Science in the NYC schools are really a dream which will disappear when I wake up.


	Ms M June 17, 2006 08:01 AM PDT I agree with Chaz and Slapzz. I am an "International" Math teacher in NYC. Yesterday at my school, we received the teaching assignments sheet for next year. The 3 spots for 9th and 10th grade Math said "VACANT". I was programmed for 11th. My bachelor is in Mechanical Engineering, and I also have a Master of Science in Mech. Eng. But in order to get certified, I had to take 24 Education credits (almost another masters) and 3 credits in "Artistic Expression" because my undergrad is not in Arts. Ridiculous. But I really like to teach and I need a job so I did it. I finished my last class 2 weeks ago.


	scarm August 17, 2007 08:35 AM PDT The shortage is the result of arcane and pointless hiring criteria that exclude engineers and science majors from receiving certification to teach math.

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