Let's make Algebra II mandatory - that'll learn them.

From Mother Jones and The Washington Post:  ed reform has gone to this:

Of all of the classes offered in high school, Algebra II is the leading predictor of college and work success, according to research that has launched a growing national movement to require it of graduates.
In recent years, 20 states and the District have moved to raise graduation requirements to include Algebra II, and its complexities are being demanded of more and more students.
....One of the key studies supporting the Algebra II focus was conducted by Anthony Carnevale and Alice Desrochers, then both at the Educational Testing Service. They used a data set that followed a group of students from 1988 to 2000, from eighth grade to a time when most were working. The study showed that of those who held top-tier jobs, 84 percent had taken Algebra II or a higher class as their last high school math course. Only 50 percent of employees in the bottom tier had taken Algebra II.
....But not everyone is convinced that Algebra II is the answer. Among the skeptics is Carnevale, one of the researchers who reported the link between Algebra II and good jobs. He warns against thinking of Algebra II as a cause of students getting good jobs merely because it is correlated with success. “The causal relationship is very, very weak,” he said. “Most people don’t use Algebra II in college, let alone in real life. The state governments need to be careful with this.”

Holy crap!  It's so damned simple!

Calculus students do really well in jobs that require mathematics.  Let's require every student to take calculus and we'll have a nation of math geniuses.

Algebra II! As a minimum requirement to hold a high school diploma! We're literally saying that if you can't factor polynomials, manipulate complex numbers, do matrix arithmetic, and understand basic trig, then you can't get a high school diploma? Really?

The push comes from Achieve, a group of idiots would really, really need to take statistics again.

Let's think here ... smart kids take algebra II ... smart kids are motivated ... smart kids are likely to maintain their motivation and work their way up the corporate ladder ... smart kids are likely to take art ... smart kids are likely to do well in literature ...  smart kids are likely to finish college ... smart kids do well in science ... smart kids work hard ... smart kids focus ... smart kids are likely to be smart ... smart kids eat healthy foods ... smart kids play a lot of video games ... smart kids read a lot ... smart kids play soccer ... smart kids volunteer their time ... smart kids eat crappy, greasy foods ... smart kids are likely to be athletic ... we could go on.

Why is anyone making the link only between algebra and success?

Why are we so stupid?