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2019-10-23 18:37:39 UTC
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Rantz: Seattle Schools document say math is oppressive, US government racist
BY JASON RANTZ
OCTOBER 2, 2019 AT 5:55 AM
Is math racist? Apparently it is according to a new Seattle Schools
course. (Pexels)
Two plus two may equal four, but if the student says five, you better
not correct them, oppressor! Math, in Seattle schools, will become a
social justice course. But that’s not all. The U.S. government will be
posited as a racist institution that must be destroyed. If this is
taught to students, it’s indoctrination at its most destructive.
‘Math Ethnic Studies Framework’ promotes the wrong kind of division
An Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee (ESAC), under the Seattle Public
Schools Superintendent, published a preliminary Math Ethnic Studies
framework document populated by district representatives that explains
math as a racist study used to oppress students — and if you correct a
student’s faulty math logic, you’re guilty.
Math is racist
The framework, created by various statewide districts, tackles four
themes, including Power and Oppression and History of Resistance and
Liberation.
At its core, the belief seems to be that “western” math is viewed as the
only “legitimate expression” of math identity and that it’s used to
“disenfranchise people and communities of color” and, consequently, it
“erases the historical contributions of people and communities of color.”
None of this has anything to do with the math you should learn in K-12;
these are topics left for a progressive college course you’d likely see
at Evergreen State College.
The framework asks, “Where does Power and Oppression show up in our math
experiences?” It wonders, “Who gets to say if an answer is right?”
Apparently, math is now subjective. Who are you to insist two plus two
equals four? It goes on to ask “Who is Smart? Who is not Smart?” Answer:
the person who says two plus two equals five is not yet smart and should
be corrected, even if you think it oppresses them.
The framework believes math is manipulated to allow inequality and
oppression to persist. They ask, “Who is doing the oppressing?” I think
the answer is supposed to be the white, cis-gendered, heterosexual
Christian man.
They ask, “How has math been used to resist and liberate people and
communities of color from oppression?”
Ironically, if you subscribe to this social justice world view of math,
and teach anyone that there’s no such thing as correct answers, you will
be doing immeasurable and, yes, oppressive, harm to students.
History revised
These radical educators aren’t just looking to redefine the study of
math. They seem ready to use history courses to present an aggressively
progressive worldview, using socialist activist Howard Zinn teachings to
indoctrinate kids.
The U.S. History Ethnic Studies Framework insists “the United States
government was founded on racist intellectual premises and economic
practices that institutionalized oppression of
people of color that continues to the present day.”
The document does not hide their goal of demonizing capitalism as
exploitative and oppressive. They present mass incarceration as “the New
Jim Crow” and want students to understand that “Europeans brought the
dominant worldview values of “guns, the bible, private property and
social hierarchy, and racial supremacy.”
Reasonable people can certainly argue that history has been whitewashed
and we’d all benefit from a more holistic approach to how contemporary
society has been shaped. But this document of possible recommendations
goes way beyond that. This would be teaching an ideological perspective;
this isn’t teaching history.
Seattle Public Schools responds
The ESAC is made up of a number of educators and was created due to a
legislature mandate to “advise, assist, and make recommendations to the
office of the superintendent of public instruction regarding the
identification of ethnic studies materials.”
The committee will meet throughout the next year in order to meet a
September 1, 2020 deadline to offer up their final recommendations. The
Superintendent’s office notes that the document is a review of the work
done by districts so far, but not necessarily a finalized recommendation
list, which isn’t yet due.
New Seattle school dress code affirms expression
“The Committee thought it was important to review work that has already
been done,” Kate Payne, Director of Communications from the
Superintendent’s Office. “The materials posted to our ESAC webpage were
created by school districts around our state, and the Committee intends
to review them as they the work move forward.”
“In creating a state-level framework and recommended resources, we hope
to provide guidance to districts implementing Ethnic Studies as part of
their class offerings. Again, the Committee has not yet created any
documents, nor have they made any recommendations. They are in the
process of gathering information about current practices and deciding on
the best course of action to ensure our students and educators receive
appropriate support. This is an elective class offering, and there are
no requirements that school districts offer Elective Studies courses at
this time.”
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH
770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.
402 Comments
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https://mynorthwest.com/1537348/rantz-seattle-schools-document-say-math-is-oppressive-us-government-racist/?
Rantz: Seattle Schools document say math is oppressive, US government racist
BY JASON RANTZ
OCTOBER 2, 2019 AT 5:55 AM
Is math racist? Apparently it is according to a new Seattle Schools
course. (Pexels)
Two plus two may equal four, but if the student says five, you better
not correct them, oppressor! Math, in Seattle schools, will become a
social justice course. But that’s not all. The U.S. government will be
posited as a racist institution that must be destroyed. If this is
taught to students, it’s indoctrination at its most destructive.
‘Math Ethnic Studies Framework’ promotes the wrong kind of division
An Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee (ESAC), under the Seattle Public
Schools Superintendent, published a preliminary Math Ethnic Studies
framework document populated by district representatives that explains
math as a racist study used to oppress students — and if you correct a
student’s faulty math logic, you’re guilty.
Math is racist
The framework, created by various statewide districts, tackles four
themes, including Power and Oppression and History of Resistance and
Liberation.
At its core, the belief seems to be that “western” math is viewed as the
only “legitimate expression” of math identity and that it’s used to
“disenfranchise people and communities of color” and, consequently, it
“erases the historical contributions of people and communities of color.”
None of this has anything to do with the math you should learn in K-12;
these are topics left for a progressive college course you’d likely see
at Evergreen State College.
The framework asks, “Where does Power and Oppression show up in our math
experiences?” It wonders, “Who gets to say if an answer is right?”
Apparently, math is now subjective. Who are you to insist two plus two
equals four? It goes on to ask “Who is Smart? Who is not Smart?” Answer:
the person who says two plus two equals five is not yet smart and should
be corrected, even if you think it oppresses them.
The framework believes math is manipulated to allow inequality and
oppression to persist. They ask, “Who is doing the oppressing?” I think
the answer is supposed to be the white, cis-gendered, heterosexual
Christian man.
They ask, “How has math been used to resist and liberate people and
communities of color from oppression?”
Ironically, if you subscribe to this social justice world view of math,
and teach anyone that there’s no such thing as correct answers, you will
be doing immeasurable and, yes, oppressive, harm to students.
History revised
These radical educators aren’t just looking to redefine the study of
math. They seem ready to use history courses to present an aggressively
progressive worldview, using socialist activist Howard Zinn teachings to
indoctrinate kids.
The U.S. History Ethnic Studies Framework insists “the United States
government was founded on racist intellectual premises and economic
practices that institutionalized oppression of
people of color that continues to the present day.”
The document does not hide their goal of demonizing capitalism as
exploitative and oppressive. They present mass incarceration as “the New
Jim Crow” and want students to understand that “Europeans brought the
dominant worldview values of “guns, the bible, private property and
social hierarchy, and racial supremacy.”
Reasonable people can certainly argue that history has been whitewashed
and we’d all benefit from a more holistic approach to how contemporary
society has been shaped. But this document of possible recommendations
goes way beyond that. This would be teaching an ideological perspective;
this isn’t teaching history.
Seattle Public Schools responds
The ESAC is made up of a number of educators and was created due to a
legislature mandate to “advise, assist, and make recommendations to the
office of the superintendent of public instruction regarding the
identification of ethnic studies materials.”
The committee will meet throughout the next year in order to meet a
September 1, 2020 deadline to offer up their final recommendations. The
Superintendent’s office notes that the document is a review of the work
done by districts so far, but not necessarily a finalized recommendation
list, which isn’t yet due.
New Seattle school dress code affirms expression
“The Committee thought it was important to review work that has already
been done,” Kate Payne, Director of Communications from the
Superintendent’s Office. “The materials posted to our ESAC webpage were
created by school districts around our state, and the Committee intends
to review them as they the work move forward.”
“In creating a state-level framework and recommended resources, we hope
to provide guidance to districts implementing Ethnic Studies as part of
their class offerings. Again, the Committee has not yet created any
documents, nor have they made any recommendations. They are in the
process of gathering information about current practices and deciding on
the best course of action to ensure our students and educators receive
appropriate support. This is an elective class offering, and there are
no requirements that school districts offer Elective Studies courses at
this time.”
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH
770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.
402 Comments
Share