Are We Learning Everything in Theory?

In the United States, our educational system is still set up to memorize. You know, it's rote exercises. There's no context and they've been trying to move in that direction but for the most part, I think our system is so broken. And kids, unless they have a wonderful teacher who can connect the dots for them and help them see the bigger picture in the context,. They're just going to memorize and it's all about getting the right answer... Mm-hmm. So I wonder if we decide algebra isn't important anymore, no one's going to have the chance to learn it. Or maybe it's an option.