I want smart people teaching

And yet we don't have that at all in the public schools. It wouldn't be so bad but we also have stupid people running the system and controlling the curriculae and manning the curriculum committees that dictate the textbook content. So even when a smart teacher appears on the scene, like Jaime Escalante, the bureaucracy labels them an enemy of the state, and their careers are destroyed, or they voluntarily resign.

you find ways to justify why kids don’t need algebra

All my kids now have gotten a 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam. Do you know what that means? All but the youngest have also gotten 5s on the AP Physics C Mechanics and Electromagnetism exams. That one requires mastery of calculus as a prerequisite. By the time they hit college, each was competent in differential equations, molecular biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, C++, Java, World History, English Literature, etc.

Yet I am a moron and my kids are crippled. OK!