Calculators in School

* Re “State School Board OKs Back to Basics for Math,” Dec. 11.

I have been a LAUSD teacher for 28 years. I have taught at the elementary and junior high school levels. Now I teach mathematics at North Hollywood High School and wish to make a statement that calculators and graphing calculators are very useful tools in enhancing the learning process. We live in the age of technology. To go back to the basics and take away the calculators in the elementary schools is a detriment to learning.

Our students are not performing in math as expected. To panic and blame reliance on calculators and the new school reform movement is being irrational and unfair. There are other factors to consider such as overcrowded classrooms and language barriers.

If students are not performing in math, we need to decrease class size. We need to provide enhancement for learning opportunities in the form of computer labs, graphing calculators, tutoring and parent education. To punish the students by prohibiting the use of calculators is not the answer. Rote learning may have worked for our grandparents, but we live in a different era. We need to teach students about the most advanced technology to prepare them for the future.

MERYLE H. HIROTSU

Duarte