Here's what I might write in response...
Dear Mrs. Principal,
I have heard similar stories, and am equally appalled by our nations failure to educate our children, particularly in math. And I agree with the thrust of the article, and that our race for early algebra should not be our goal. This is absolutely true for the student population as a whole. However, this thinking looks only at the big picture for all kids, and fails to see each child as an individual.
I'm enclosing my son's WJ achievement testing, and would like to highlight the rarity of his math scores. His overall score was 145, which reflects a mathematical ability that is three full standard deviations from the norm. As such, his math ability is in the range of 1 in 1000, and vastly different from that of the majority of students. The article you shared really does not apply to children with such outlier abilities.
I commend your efforts to pursue what's best for your student population as a whole, but please keep in mind that any mass rule will always have exceptions, and consider the possibility that my son is one of those exceptions. I again request that he be considered for a more appropriate math placement at this time.
Very nice Dottie!
