I wrote a piece back in 2021 reporting that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had signed a law that suspended the state’s proficiency standards for reading, writing, and math to promote equity in public education.
The Oregonian reported that the governor declined to comment on the law, but they got this much:
[Deputy communications director Charles] Boyle said in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”
I've seen posts we've done that declare math is racist. Seattle's K-12 "Math Ethnic Studies Framework" had as one of its themes the "Power of Oppression":
Power and oppression, as defined by ethnic studies, are the ways in which individuals and groups define mathematical knowledge so as to see “Western” mathematics as the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence. This definition of legitimacy is then used to disenfranchise people and communities of color. This erases the historical contributions of people and communities of color.
Some schools in Oregon were being informed that asking students in math class to “show their work” was “white supremacy.” Why? Because it required students to "worship the written word" as well as exhibit paternalism, both of which are building blocks of white supremacy culture as well. Math class is sick with white supremacist thinking. Last year, mathematics teachers attended an event called, "Undergraduate Mathematics Education as a White, Cisheteropatriarchal Space and Opportunities for Structural Disruption to Advance Queer of Color Justice."
But back to today's story. In 53 Illinois public schools, zero students passed the state math proficiency test. Zero.
ZERO students passed the state math proficiency test at 53 Illinois public schools (almost all of whom are majority-black). At one such school — a "prep school" designed to prepare students for medical careers — the per student spending is $47,000.https://t.co/qiPVSfFzMv
— i/o (@eyeslasho) February 6, 2024
Wirepoints reports:
Spry Community Links High School, in the Heart of Little Village in Chicago, says its vision is to “provide a challenging and supportive environment…to enable our students to succeed in the 21st century.” Number one on the school’s focus list? “Increasing reading and math scores to or above grade level.”
But a look at state data that tracks reading and math scores for each Illinois school reveals two frightening facts about Spry. Not a single one of its 88 kids at the school can read at grade level. It’s the same for math. Zero kids are proficient.
Spry is one of 30 schools in Illinois where not a single student can read at grade level. Twenty-two of those schools are part of the Chicago Public Schools and the other eight are outside Chicago.
…
And only 1 out of 10 kids or less can do math at grade level in 930 schools…that’s more than a quarter of all schools in the state.
The obvious solution is to give public schools more money, eliminate the state standards, and make math and reading more "woke."
I don't know about you, but I dread a future where no one can do math. It makes buildings not collapse and airliners not crash.
What are the teacher's unions doing about this? Donating to the Democratic Party.
Are the teachers failing or are their students unteachable? I have to believe results would improve if these kids were in better schools. Or is math just too white and cisheteropatriarchal for students of color?
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