Pick your own debate!

Kleptin, thank you for your argument. This has been an enjoyable debate. 1. My opponent claims that "Precalculus is the equivalent of Algebra II with Geometry and some extra topics." However, in his own experience, he learned the algebraic portions of Precal in one year, and the Trig and graphic portions in another year. Therefore, the only reason Precal could be said to have more than Algebra II is because it also takes that much longer to learn. My opponent's new plan is to replace Algebra II with Precalculus. However, without Algebra II to go over the algebraic necessities, Precal would take two years to learn. There's utterly no point in changing the name of Algebra II to Precal, as that would result in Precal I and Precal II, in addition to Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Precalculus I takes longer to say than Algebra II. If we change all Algebra II references to Precalculus I, and all Precalculus references to Precalculus II, this would result in the reprinting of numerous textbooks, tests, etc., and everybody would have to get it straight in their head again. Therefore, to conserve time, the class should be Algebra II, not Precalculus. 2. There is such a thing as over-preparation. A student's time could be better spent taking electives that are useful to them for their selected path. As for my logic, up until around high school, students don't have a clue about what they don't want to do. Besides, everybody has to be able to read, write, add, and point to the United States on a map. If a student has not developed an interest in science and math by the 12th grade (most of the future scientists elect to take the class earlier by the concept of advanced placement), it's quite likely that he never will. I'm going to explain how the math curriculum works at my school. Starting from 7th grade: Basic Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Calculus AB, Calculus BC (Statistics can go anywhere past Precalculus) Most students take basic math in 7th grade, because they are not advanced in math. Therefore, they end up taking Precal in 12th grade. However, I took basic math in 6th grade, and skipped Pre-Algebra to get into Algebra, and therefore, I am taking Precalculus in 10th grade. My opponent's idea is to accelerate everybody. However, this would make everybody's grades go down, increasing anger at math and hindering any developing interest. So apparently, my opponent is just smart for having taken Precalculus in 10th grade. However, were we to force all 10th graders to take Precalculus, most of them would flat-out fail, because they wouldn't be ready. Such a plan would be foolish. My opponent asks me to cite a situation of a boy following a 7-year career plan (how would I find a statistic on that?), but declines to source this "huge portion" of undeclared students. 3. If Precalclus replaces Algebra II, then we end up with two Precalculus classes where there was only one before. Summary counterpoint counterpoints: 1. In that same logic, Algebra should replace Pre-Algebra, because Algebra goes into so much greater detail. But then we'd just end up with three Algebra courses, so that would be a waste of time. 2. The reason is because Precalculus takes more time, unless Algebra II is taken before Precalculus to cover some of the algebraic portions of Precalculus. As for the rest of Precalculus being useless, they are to the majority of the population. Most people use degrees, anyway. 3A. Teaching Precalculus early would disrupt the students advancing that their own regulated pace. Besides, the best it could be advanced would be 11th grade, because in 10th grade, my opponent might as well have been taking Algebra II. 3B. Actually, the most advanced class on the SAT is Geometry [1]. My opponent sources no entrance exams requiring Precal. 3C. Precal cannot be taught sooner because it would disrupt the pace. Now, as far as freshmen going in undecided, how undecided were they? After all, if they're just undecided as to what science profession they're going into, then they've probably already chosen to take Precal. 3D. 16, at the earliest. 3E. My opponent gives nothing to support this statement. However, given that the majority of the population doesn't need the entire Precal class, and my opponent has called it detailed numerous times, it can hardly be considered basic. Now, my opponent gives no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to skip Precalculus and head right into Calculus AB. Therefore, I should be allowed to skip Precalculus, and it would no longer be compulsory. Conclusion: My opponent's plan of renaming Algebra II to Precalculus I would be a waste of time. Precalculus cannot replace Algebra II and teach all of Algebra II and Precalculus in one year, but two. Compulsion would be a waste of time for most students. I should be allowed to skip Precal. VOTE CON! 1. http://tinyurl.com...