Enemies Among Us

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET MORE MALEVOLENT...

Along comes A Smallest Minority, and reports this.  The educzars in the Newton (Mass) school system have managed to combine math and multi-culti indoctination, with the inEVITable result that students know neither math nor how to think about complex social issues.  And we quote...  [Insulting remarks in brackets and italics]

Between 1999 and 2001, under the direction of Superintendent Young and Assistant Superintendent Wyatt, the math curriculum was redesigned to emphasize "Newton's commitment [You think they had townhall discussions and voted?  Whose commitment?] to active anti-racist education" for the elementary and middle schools. [They couldn't just ADD "anti-racism" (whatever THAT might mean) to the general curriculum, or put it in Socialist Studies.  Noooo.  They had to debauch math.  This shows that they DON'T see math as a system of knowledge with internal cohesion and boundaries between it and other sorts of knowledge.  No, math, and everything else, is merely a NARRATIVE that can be written and rewritten depending on the motives of persons who CONTROL it--NOT the mathematicians, but the edumandarins who have EXPROPRIATED it to serve their interests.]  This meant that no longer were division, multiplication, fractions and decimals the first priority for teaching math. For that matter, the teaching of math was no longer the first priority for math teachers, as indicated by the new curriculum guidelines, called benchmarks, which function as the primary instructional guide for teaching math in the Newton Public Schools.  [The ideas of the ruling class are the ideas that rule the masses.  (Well, Derrrr)  An interesting irony here.  Progressives present themselves as Great Liberals and Champions of Justice who only want to Serve and to "restore" Power to the People.  But, as usual, this is mere rhetoric used to mask their elite position and power over ideas--in this case the BENCHMARKS.  Who controls the benchmarks controls education.]

In 2001 Mr. Young, Mrs. Wyatt and an assortment of other well-paid school administrators  [party hacks and useful idiots], defined the new number-one priority for teaching mathematics, as documented in the curriculum benchmarks, "Respect for Human Differences - students will live out [How do YOU spell political socialization?]  the system wide core of 'Respect for Human Differences' by demonstrating anti-racist/anti-bias behaviors."   [totalitarian?]  It continues, "Students will: Consistently analyze their experiences and the curriculum for bias and discrimination; Take effective anti-bias action when bias or discrimination is identified; Work with people of different backgrounds and tell how the experience affected them; Demonstrate how their membership in different groups has advantages and disadvantages that affect how they see the world and the way they are perceived by others..." It goes on and on.

[No doubt Chairman Mao is having a good laugh?  The Cultural Revolution comes to Newton!  Maybe edumaoists should create a "Little Red Book" for all the kids to carry and read every spare moment.  Maybe they should institute People's Court to try kids who refuse to be indoctrinated.  Maybe there should be "re-education classes" and detention and expulsion for kids who refuse to mouth the party line.]

These are the most important priorities that the school department has determined for teaching math from grade one through eight, as documented in the Newton Public Schools Benchmarks.

Nowhere among the first priorities for the math curriculum guidelines is the actual teaching of math. That's a distant second. To Superintendent Young and his School Committee, mathematical problem-solving is of secondary importance to anti-racist/anti-bias math.

We have at last arrived.  NOTHING these asses do is unbelievable.

Do these lines, below, help to explain anything?  We think so...

Unless the current decline in the sixth-grade math MCAS scores is reversed, within four years the rate of passing for sixth-graders will dip below 60 percent. Since the school department has neither an explanation nor a solution to the problem, and since it's likely that these same highly paid administrators will still be in their positions overseeing this problem for which they have neither an explanation nor a solution, there is every reason to assume that this downward trend will continue.

     The School Committee, those elected overseers of the school department, offered no instructions, challenges, or demands to those administrators under whose watch this downward trend occurred. [How do YOU spell COWARD?] The committee members, who are on a first-name basis with these bureaucrats, apparently have an unspoken rule against demanding explanations from their school department friends.  [Okay, NOT cowards. ACCOMPLICES.] Besides, Superintendent Young would never permit his School Committee to publicly challenge his school administrators. [Oooo. He wouldn't perMIT!  He might scowl.  He might get TESty.  He might say, "We'll discuss it later."]  So no one was subjected to scrutiny, no one was held accountable, no one was put on notice. The members sat passively and did nothing, just as these bureaucrats expected.

Maybe those Funky French weren't ALL wrong when they rounded up the grandees and topped them. 

But DO read the whole thing and check the links at A Smallest Minority, who delivers consistently fine posts.  Check the original article by Tom Mountain in the Newton Tab, here.  And the follow-up!!  Maybe--just maybe--there is hope.  Afterall, where's the Soviet Union?

 

Comments

[Kevin Baker]

Thanks for the links, and the compliments!

[instructivist]

Mystery of multicultural math revealed (via http://www.joannejacobs.com/)

Test your level of indoctrination: http://www.coe.ufl.edu/College/Accreditation/NCATE/ufPrograms/Courses/Syllabi/EDE6932-MultiMath.html

Multicultural Mathematics Survey

The purpose of this survey is to gather data regarding your conceptions, ideas, and knowledge related to multicultural mathematics. Please respond to all items.

SA A D SD

1. Mathematics is a culture-free discipline. 1 2 3 4

2. Black History Month is the best time to teach multicultural mathematics. 1 2 3 4

3. Multicultural mathematics is important for students whose first language is not English. 1 2 3 4

4. Multicultural mathematics is important for all students. 1 2 3 4

5. I plan to include multicultural aspects when 1 2 3 4 teaching mathematics.

6. Multicultural mathematics focuses on the mathematical contributions of minorities. 1 2 3 4

7. Multicultural mathematics is a good enrichment activity. 1 2 3 4

8. When teaching multicultural mathematics, all cultures represented in the classroom should be included. 1 2 3 4

9. Focus on multiculturalism in mathematics is not necessary for good mathematics teaching. 1 2 3 4

10. I am already prepared to deal with multiculturalism in my teaching. 1 2 3 4

11. Teaching multicultural mathematics is probably the same as teaching the history of mathematics. 1 2 3 4

12. Teaching mathematics from a cultural perspective will not prepare students for standardized testing. 1 2 3 4

13. Define mathematics.

14. Define multiculturalism.

15. What do you expect to learn in this course?

16. Do you have concerns about teaching mathematics to children from various cultures? If so, what are they? If not, how did you develop your confidence?

17. What is one significant thing you remember about your early mathematics learning?

[Garbo]

The situation in Newton shows how easy it is for schools to screw the poor—all they need to do is name the program Anti-racism. Well-educated, affluent parents will circumvent (to some degree) this district’s abdication of its duty to teach math: by teaching their kids at home, taking them to Sylvan Learning Center and Kumon Math (probably huge in Newton) and hiring private tutors. These kids will be provided with enough math to gain entry to higher education, whereas those with fewer advantages—disproportionately black and Hispanic—will be left in the dust. The article says only that scores have declined, but you can bet the decline is most pronounced among the free- and reduced-price-lunch crowd.

Adrian, the link you provided scared me. Reading further down this syllabus, I found the professor’s list of behaviors that would “lead to a deduction in your final grade” including: “exhibiting a challenging, arrogant, or insolent manner.” Though I will attend a different ed school, I think mine’s about average. I want to get good grades, but I can’t imagine letting harmful indoctrination go unchallenged, especially having 12 years’ teaching experience to bring to the discussion. How about “expressing challenging views in an impeccably polite manner?” Will I still get docked? Maybe I’ll skip ed school and just keep reading Plum.

[Garbo]

Correction: the link I referred to was posted by Instructivist, not Adrian. Sorry.

[Plum]

Things That (Most)Ed Perfessers Consider “exhibiting a challenging, arrogant, or insolent manner.”

1. "Bwaaaaa haaaa haaa!"

2. "Oh, sure! Uh huh. Yeah. Right."

3. "Sponge Bob."

4. "Cough cough. "Hrshit!"

5. "You got any data to support that delusional statement?"

6. "You're insane."

7. "I once thought the same thing. But I was on acid."

8. "Where's the white rabbit?"

9. "Here we go down the rabbit hole!"

10."I've had zits that made more sense."

11."Are you the FOURTH Stooge? I'm just askin'"

12. "Wow. Now say something even MORE idiotic! Go ahead. I'll wait."

13. "Another cheap degree!"

14. "A new psychodiagnostic category! Chronic Undifferentiated Dumbass Syndrome."

15. "Ring ring ring.... Reality calling. Sez it's for YOU!"

16. "Get the strait jacket, Louie."

17. "Squarepants!"

18. "I'm calling the cops!"

19. "Uh, oh! Thar she blows! Get the harpoon!"

20. "Want some pie with that bull$#@!?"

21. "Watch out! He's in free fall!!"

22. "The mind is a terrible thing to lose. That applies to persons who HAD a mind. Which pretty much leaves you out."

23. "The Ship of Fools leaves in five minutes....Here's a complimentary ticket."

24. "Dang! Cough cough. I left home without my gas mask."

25. "Oh, Lord! I've gone to hell!"

[Adrian]

Plum, it looked at first as if you were replying to the Multicultural Math Survey posted by instructivist. It's about as good a set of answers as a brain-carrying beings can give.