In the wake of last week’s letter from the 60 UW professors who warned that a growing number of freshmen can’t do even middle school math, the Tacoma New Tribune published a great editorial this morning that pointed out that remediation isn’t the fault of students (especially the ones smart enough to get into the UW), it’s the “quantity and quality of math education kids get in public schools.” And, more importantly, the shortage of qualified math teachers is at the heart of the problem.

They also supported the Senate bill that plans to study and attach real numbers to the state’s math teacher and education problems.

But the TNT really hit it home with this: “Face it: Differential pay is the future. Washington needs skilled teachers if its students are to get the math and science education they need to compete in the real world. Simply ramping up teacher recruiting won’t be enough... The proposed study is a first step. Lawmakers should make sure it gets done.” Here, here.