I've preached at times about how it's important now more than ever to be able to use your brain. Maybe I'm not so right about that.

We're putting together a collection of good math-related videos on the internet. Please post any suggestions you have here.

It appears that Jeff has been able to work out a solution with his school board. We're happy to hear it, but not as happy as his students and their parents, I'll bet!

This summer, US IMO coach Zuming Feng will launch a new summer program, Idea Math. More details are here. The program will be in the last two weeks of July in the Boston area.

Here's an argument that unemployment now is structural, not cyclical. That is, industries collapse, so people who need new jobs have to find something different to do. The people with broadly applicable skills are much better off than those who don't have broadly applicable skills. I think this assessment is more or less correct. Few of the jobs I've had even existed when I was in high school. This situation will be even more extreme for students today.

When the day comes that intellectual problem solving skills are not chief among highly-valued skills by would-be employers, we can all bow down to our robot overlords. Until then, it may be more important now than ever to get smart.

I blogged a short while ago about the threat to one of the most impressive math programs I've ever encountered -- Jeff Boyd's MATHCOUNTS programs in the Fort Bend ISD.

When I speak to parents' groups about resources and programs for their math-loving students, I usually end with a call to action of sorts. The three points I hit are organize, agitate, and contribute. For those of you who like the second, here's your chance. Be respectful, of course, but this is a chance to make clear to administrators how important programs like these are.

Ever wonder why the football team and the band get so many resources and most math teams get next to nothing? It's because people make a lot of noise when schools even vaguely think about curtailing them. Programs like Jeff's are exceedingly rare, and we need to preserve them and hope that they can become models for others.

Mathemagician Art Benjamin is scheduled to be on the Colbert Report tonight. While you're getting ready for it, here are some warm-ups of Colbert's past mathematical experieinces.

Lamentably, it's coming from his administration.

For those of you who don't know, Jeff has built a staggeringly impressive program and has led Texas to the National MATHCOUNTS championship 4 of the last 5 years. I hope the parents of students in the program make the administration's and the school board's lives miserable until this awful decision is overturned.

I wonder if they tell the great high school football coaches that they can't work with 9th graders.

I wonder if they tell the great high school football coaches anything.

Grrr.... Until we start treating teachers like Jeff Boyd like the stars they are, there's not much hope of keeping great young teachers in the profession when more attractive opportunities arise.