Stewart E. Brekke, retired high school teacher from Chicago Public Schools

I taught algebra-based physics and chemistry for numerous years at Paul Robeson High School on the South Side of Chicago. Unfortunately, many high schools in America only allow the upper 30-40% of students take mathematically based physics. I have found in retirement in Du Page county that all kinds of college graduates, many psychology, business, and especially humanities and social studies majors as well as accounting majors, working as baristas and cashiers at McDonalds and Starbucks for about $10.00/hr. As some are aware there are immediate openings for teachers everywhere in America, especially those certified mathematics, physics, chemistry, and special education. Also, there are immediate employment opportunities for medical personnel such as registered nurses, surgical technicians and laboratory techs. All of these STEM and medical type jobs require a strong background in science and mathematics. These jobs pay a starting salary about $50,000/yr, and registered nurses can make as much as $100,000/yr after a few years.

It is essential that every high school student take algebra-based physics and chemistry and at least three years of high school mathematics to provide the sound foundations for STEM and medical type career programs in higher education. For those high school students weak in mathematics, some kind of algebra remediation can be employed as the physics and chemistry formulas are taught. There are virtually no living wage jobs for those students in fields other than STEM or medicine, all of which require the problem solving skills foundations learned in high school mathematics based physics and chemistry. In the Chicago Public Schools, it was required that every student take at least 4 years of science including physics and chemistry. However, often the Chicago students were not given the algebra-based physics and chemistry. This type of physics and chemistry is worthless to prepare any student for success in a STEM or medical type career program in higher education and almost any other type of college career training will result in a lifetime low income situation. Algebra-based physics and chemistry, with mathematics remediation if needed, always must be given to all of our students, average level or higher.

Also, I was especially fortunate to have taught physics and chemistry at Robeson High School. The school was required to give four years of mathematics and science to all students to comply with an integration consent decree with the Federal government, because Robeson could not be properly integrated due to its location in the city. I gave my physics students, Black inner city students often weak in mathematics, the standard algebra based physics course, with mathematics help if needed, and was very successful often passing about 80% of my students. I gave a lot of help to the students to help them solve the mathematics type problems. When I later found out that most students in America are not allowed to take a mathematically based high school physics or chemistry course, I wrote articles on how our Chicago students often passed a standard algebra based physics and chemistry course [1,2]. Essentially, our Black students at Robeson HS and at Carver HS, average students and above average students, many with weakness in elementary arithmetic and basic algebra, were successful in passing high school algebra based physics and chemistry. This shows all of America that all kinds of average and above average level can do an algebra based physics and chemistry course, with help if needed. These often under-estimated students went on to receive bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Science from Chicago State University, possibly as many as 20 Black Carver HS students. There were other Carver HS students that received degrees in other subjects.

Therefore, it is essential that every American student, of average or higher ability, be allowed and even encouraged to enroll in algebra-based high school physics and chemistry and at least third year advanced mathematics, simply to provide every American student with an equal opportunity to obtain the problem solving foundations for a living wage career in STEM or medical fields. For capable, but mathematically deficient students, extra help Involving mathematics remediation such as extra drills and practices, for example, must be provided to ensure competency in physics and chemistry problem solving, scientific notation, trigonometry etc. In America today often only the upper 30-40% of a high school are allowed to take algebra based physics and often algebra based chemistry. This unnecessary exclusion of many otherwise capable students may result in a lifetime of low wage jobs for a student and his or her future family. We educators must try to include as many capable students as possible, offering extra help if needed, in algebra based high school physics and chemistry as well as third and even fourth year high school advanced mathematics to provide a foundation for the many American capable students to be successful in higher education STEM and medical type career programs and a probable good life for him/her and his possible future family. To do otherwise is blatant discrimination against many capable American students often happening right now in many public high schools across the country.

Stewart E Brekke (Stewabruk@aol.com) is a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher certified in high school physics, chemistry, and mathematics. He holds a PhD from the International University for Graduate Studies in Arts and Sciences and is nationally and locally published.

[1] Brekke, Stewart E. (2002). Achieving Mathematical Physics for All High School Students. APS News ViewPoint, 11(6). https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200206/viewpoinr.cfm

[2] Brekke, Stewart E. (2010). How to increase the number of physics majors. APS Forum on Education Newsletter, Spring 2010 pp. 6-7. https://www.aps.org/units/fed/newsletters/spring2010/brekke.cfm

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.