July 16, 2008 12:25PM 

# Back-Alley Long Division? 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

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Apparently, when your child is being taught “new math” and you want him to learn the old-fashioned way, helping him to carry the one can make you feel [a bit criminal](http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-15-old-math_N.htm).

Of course, if we’d let all parents choose their kids’ schools instead of forcing them to support a single system of government institutions, this wouldn’t be a problem. Those who want their children to learn new math could pick schools that teach it, while those who prefer good ol’ formulas could do the same.

It’s a solution so obvious almost any reasoning approach will hit it. Unfortunately, politics isn’t almost any reasoning approach. It’s a process so convoluted that it makes putting two and two together as complicated as solving [Fermat’s Last Theorem](http://fermatslasttheorem.blogspot.com/), and misses even the most sensible of answers.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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