One of the great thorns in many a mathematical side is a discontinuous
function - a curve with one or more breaks. A puzzle that would confound
even the most illustrious Sir Isaac Newton is why do American school course
grades go A B C D F. No E.
If we look at NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND from a Hookean perspective we'd see
one B, one C, two Ds and one F. That would be a grade point average of 1.4,
a solid D. Just think - were grades of E introduced the average would rise to
1.857. Instant improvement. Or if we name the new legislation ALL KIDS
ADVANCE the mythical GPA is 3.5. A clear C. Sadly, if there ever was a time
for such cheap tricks it is now long past.
The Mobile County School District is located in Mobile, Alabama and
includes 116 schools that serve over 65,000 students in all grades. It is the
largest school district in Alabama and probably in the top 50 in the United
States. Mobile's Mayor Sam Jones says he wants to reduce Mobile County's 45
percent school dropout rate by half in four years. We are unenthusiastic
about requiring only 60% scores on tests, and wish the city and schools
would set a goal of at least an associate degree (two years of college) as
opposed to a high school diploma, but we commend the people of Mobile
for sticking to their guns. That's an old tradition thereabouts.
As a Union Navy midshipman is alleged to have remarked on August 5,1863:
"It seems we are to proceed at full speed. And you should have heard what
Admiral Farragut said about the torpedoes!"
It is sometimes forgotten that the CSS Tennessee, although outnumbered
three to one even after USS Tecumseh was sunk, and having lost two of its
accompanying gunboats, Selma and Gaines, attacked the Union fleet. To
the city's credit, even after the forts and fleet were lost, Mobile held on until
the closing days of the war.
To the students, teachers and people of Mobile who have refused to
surrender we say "Go Bama. Roll Tide."
"49 sister states all had
Alabama in their eyes"
from the song Alabama
Getaway by Robert Hunter
and Jerry Garcia