To Zeke Villalobos, x + y equals nothing but anxiety. He didn't get algebra the first time he took it, and he's having a hard time with it now.
But as a high school senior, the 16-year-old San Juan Capistrano boy has no choice.
A California law passed in 2000 requires all high school students, starting with this year's senior class, to complete Algebra I to graduate. There's no wiggle room; special education students, English learners and those at continuation schools must all pass the class before they get their diplomas.
Algebra question -- One sample question accompanying an article in Monday's California section about a high school algebra graduation requirement had an incomplete answer. In addition to 73 and 15, another pair of numbers, -43 and -101, also solve the equations described in problem No. 4.
Lawmakers demanded the requirement after concluding that too many graduates lacked a foundation in math to succeed in the workplace or in higher education. At the time, some detractors protested that many students would not be able to meet the more rigorous standard and schools didn't have enough money to provide additional support.
But schools and students are adjusting, and the results are proving positive.
"I guess I had to be forced to do it, to make the effort to understand," said Zeke, who attends Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo. He is one of 25 students enrolled in an algebra class reserved for seniors who have failed the district's two-year course, and he acknowledges its value. "It's what you need to survive out there and get a job."
Many educators and lawmakers agree that algebra courses should be available to all students, not just those who are college-bound. For past generations of students, longtime teachers said, algebra was offered sporadically or not at all in low-income and heavily minority communities.
Closing the achievement gap between black and Latino children and their white peers can be done only if all students are held to the same standards, said Merle Price, deputy superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Educators applaud the statewide application of the algebra requirement because it is forcing everyone, no matter their academic potential or handicap, to at least perform at the same minimal level when it comes to math.
"Watered-down [expectations] just won't make it in this economy anymore," he said. "The goal here is not to deprive kids of a diploma but to make the diploma meaningful."
In most districts, officials said, just a handful of seniors are at risk of not meeting the algebra requirement. The majority of California students finish algebra before entering high school and most of the others learn algebra in a series of classes that, at some schools, may last up to three years, said Ron Fox, an administrator with the California Department of Education.
