I've been tutoring high school students for five years, and the moment I ask them to explain why a quadratic formula works, most freeze. Rote memorization gets them through tests, but it collapses when problems shift slightly. Should math education prioritize conceptual understanding over procedural fluency, even if it means covering fewer topics in a school year? I've seen students who grasp the 'why' struggle with speed on standardized exams, so it's not a simple trade-off.