Top Dem Economist Says Woke Math Is a National Security Threat

Larry Summers blames 'social justice warriors' for giving China a 
leg up

A top Democratic economist says the rise of "antiracist" math 
curricula is a national security threat.

Larry Summers, a Harvard economist who led the National Economic 
Council under former president Barack Obama, shared a letter on 
Monday signed by almost 600 academics that condemns the rise of woke 
math initiatives in K-12 schools. The letter says the initiatives 
have devalued foundational math courses such as algebra and limited 
advanced math courses "to reduce achievement gaps." Summers called 
rigorous math instruction "an economic and a national security 
imperative," noting that "in China, math standards are not subject 
to continued erosion by social justice warriors who can't themselves 
define exponential growth or solve quadratic equations."

Radical education activists want to purge math curricula of 
allegedly racist practices, which include showing your work and 
arriving at the right answer. Democratic donors have played a role 
in propagating this now-popular trend in math education, the 
Washington Free Beacon previously reported. The Bill and Melinda 
Gates Foundation bankrolled A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction, 
the nonprofit behind a curriculum that asks teachers to observe how 
math "is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views."

Proponents of "antiracist" curricula often push to eliminate 
advanced math classes in order to reduce achievement gaps for 
underprivileged students. The coalition behind the open letter, 
k12mathmatters, says this misguided approach diminishes "access to 
skills needed for social mobility."

"While the U.S. K-12 system has much to improve, the current trends 
will instead take us further back," the letter reads. "Reducing 
access to advanced mathematics and elevating trendy but shallow 
courses over foundational skills would cause lasting damage to STEM 
education in the country and exacerbate inequality by diminishing 
access to the skills needed for social mobility."

Adrian Mims, one of the letter's signatories, told the Free Beacon 
that educators should focus on elevating students to advanced math 
classes, not trying to "lower the ceiling."

"If you do that, it's going to eliminate a lot of postsecondary 
opportunities for them," Mims told the Free Beacon.

The letter notes that eliminating advanced math courses would 
particularly harm public school students and place them at a 
disadvantage over students in private schools. It also warns that 
such reforms would reduce American students' proficiency in 
calculus, algebra, and logical thinking at a time when those skills 
"are arguably even more critical for today's grand challenges than 
in the Sputnik era."


https://freebeacon.com/campus/top-dem-economist-says-woke-math-is-
a-national-security-threat/