Gas Prices and Remedial Econ 101 in California
Graduates from California high schools didn’t know even the most basic facts.
Dec. 14, 2022 10:23 am ETSAVEPRINTTEXT
Gas prices in Mill Valley, Calif, Oct. 3.PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
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Your editorial “Gavin Newsom’s Latest Tax Increase” (Dec. 12) comments, “This is high-school economics—though we’re not sure they teach that anymore.” Reading that, I laughed. California has required a semester of high-school economics for decades. During my 37 years teaching college economics, I saw the results in my classes. Graduates from California high schools didn’t know even the most basic facts. “Do demand curves slope downward?” was likely to be answered with a blank stare and, “What’s a demand curve?”
I learned why when a high-school teacher enrolled in our master’s program. She took several courses from me. When she was about to graduate, I asked her if she was going to teach economics. She answered, “I can’t. My certificate is in business. Teaching econ requires a social-studies credential.” That, in a nutshell, is the problem.
Em. Prof. Tony Lima
California State University, East Bay
Hayward, Calif.
Justplainbill's Weblog 
I don’t know if it has changed (I don’t think so) but the rules in Virginia on teaching science were that you had to have a degree in education and take certain 3 courses, one of which really wasn’t a science course, but “about” science. So I told you that this guy Newton identified 3 laws, but you didn’t have to know the three laws or how to apply them. Myself, with an MS in systems engineering and taught 3 years in a Navy school, am not qualified to teach in Virginia schools (unless I go get a teaching certificate).
Comment by tklocek2 — December 15, 2022 @ 10:22 pm