This does not compute. "Most Orange County school districts are expected to ask the state to let their high school seniors graduate even if they flunk Algebra 1 - a diploma requirement that takes effect this year," the Register reported Friday. "Santa Ana, Orange, Huntington Beach and Fullerton Joint are among those [districts] considering waivers."

The schools might not realize it, but they're admitting they failed these students. We're not talking quantum mechanics here but a class commonly taught in the eighth grade.

"It's not unreasonable to ask the kids to pass algebra," Matt Cox, a policy fellow in education at the Pacific Research Institute, told us.

He noted that, just last year, the state Board of Education postponed to 2006 from 2004 the year students must pass an exit exam to graduate. "I have no faith they won't put it off again," he said.

Although in January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed six new members to the 11-member state board, he also reappointed Chairman Reed Hastings, who presided over the exit-exam postponement.

We hope Gov. Schwarzenegger and Secretary of Education Richard Riordan pressure the board to reject any waivers of the algebra requirement. A diploma should be something more than a parchment.