Thursday, March 03, 2022



2+2=5? Bill Gates funnels $1 MILLION to push 'math is racist' narrative

The Left will stop at nothing to destroy the society they live in. Very twisted people pretending to be do-gooders

With a $1 million check from the Gates Foundation, leading universities and local governments are building an effort to bring “anti-racism” efforts to mathematics.

A Pathway to Equitable Instruction exists to address “barriers to math equity” by offering “guidance and resources for educators to use now as they plan their curriculum, while also offering opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist math practice.”

Among the group’s content developers are Ruth Basket, Mirna Maranda-Welsh, and Malane Morales-Van Hecke from the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Multilingual Academic Support Unit; David Chun, the Director of K-12 Mathematics at the Sacramento County Office of Education; and Mindy Shacklett, a Coordinator of Mathematics at the San Diego County Office of Education. Multiple professors from the University of California system and Loyola Marymount University also worked on the project.

In its acknowledgments section — which lists the aforementioned universities and governments as “dedicated partners” — the project thanks the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for its “generous financial support.”

Gates Foundation senior communications officer Josie Duckett McSpadden confirmed to Campus Reform that the nonprofit gave $1,000,000 to the group.

One of the group’s guides — entitled “Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction” — lists the “focus on getting the ‘right’ answer,” the emphasis on “real-world math,” state standards directing classroom instruction, and the sequential teaching of skills as “white supremacy culture.”

Accordingly, the guide endeavors to debunk several alleged signs of white supremacy in mathematics. For instance, the notion that “‘good’ math teaching is considered an antidote for mathematical inequity” among minority students is decried on the grounds that “either/or thinking” “allows the defensiveness of Western mathematics to prevail.”

In addressing the belief that state standards ought to direct classroom instruction, the guide suggests that teachers “unpack how the standards uphold white supremacy culture.”

As an antidote to white supremacy culture, the guide suggests centering the classroom upon “ethnomathematics.”

Students may, for example, “recognize the ways that communities of color engage in mathematics and problem solving in their everyday lives” or “challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views.”

Teachers are likewise encouraged to “intentionally include mathematicians of color” in their instruction and “acknowledge the mathematical knowledge of students of color, even if it shows up unconventionally.”

Another guide — “Sustaining Equitable Practice” — asserts that “the relationship between instructional coach and teacher can be complicated and nuanced given the intersectionality of both participants’ identities.”

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Indiana Parents’ Rights Over Their Child’s Education Are Threatened. Here’s What Parents Around the Country Need to Know

Parents and voters are taking every opportunity to reject racially biased teaching and sexually explicit classroom material. Through whistleblower activity and using their right to speak at school board meetings, families are advocating for their students’ interests, and state lawmakers should take notice.

Currently, a high-profile legislative proposal in Indiana is going in the wrong direction. Hoosier officials are considering an amended proposal that makes only a mild attempt at allowing parents to see what their children are being taught and no longer protects children from racial prejudice. State lawmakers are proposing to make it optional for school leaders to inform parents about the topics educators are teaching students.

Legislators recently replaced provisions from a proposal introduced earlier this year that would have required public school leaders to make textbook lists, course syllabi, and results of student surveys available to families with optional measures for disclosing school content. And that’s not the worst of it.

The latest version of the proposal struck key provisions that would have protected teachers from critical race theory’s racial bigotry. Lawmakers had considered preventing school employees from being compelled to affirm racist concepts, but such language has since been erased.

Students are also at risk under the proposal because lawmakers would allow school counselors and, potentially, unlicensed school employees to meet with students and provide “ongoing” therapeutic services without parents’ permission. School officials are required to “attempt” to contact parents. Parents have a limited window during which they can remove their children from this treatment before it begins.

Surveys find that parents do want school leaders to inform families about conversations that educators are having with children on gender identity, and parents want their children taught that slavery “was a tragedy that harmed the nation, but our freedom and prosperity represent who we are as a nation.” Indiana’s amended proposal dismisses parents’ priorities.

Those who argue that critical race theory and radical gender theory are not taught in Indiana schools should see the social media feed for Carmel Clay schools, a district located 30 minutes north of Indianapolis. There, district officials advertise their advocacy for transgender activism.

In January, the district hosted a speaker with “extensive research in colonialism, white supremacy, and concept of racism [sic],” who said students should avoid “othering [sic] of ‘BIPOC/LGTBQ+’” because it leads to “oppression”—all ideas straight from the canon of critical race theory and gender theory.

Indiana officials should move quickly and consider proposals that protect children from racial bias and empower families with access to course outlines, reading lists, and other class material. Lawmakers should say that no public official can compel a teacher or student to affirm any idea, but especially ideas that violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This would mean, for example, that professional development programs for teachers could not require educators to profess that individuals should receive benefits or punishments based on the color of their skin—something the Indiana proposal, in its current form, should strengthen through a prohibition on compelled speech. Further, by specifically addressing compelled behavior, educators would be reminded that dividing students into mandatory affinity groups according to race for different school activities is discriminatory.

Such affinity groups have been the subject of a lawsuit in Illinois. A similar lawsuit unfolded in Massachusetts, where district officials dropped an affinity project after settling with Parents Defending Education.

Indiana lawmakers should also require school leaders to post textbook lists and assignments online so that parents can see what teachers are presenting to children. And legislators must make sure parents know what mental health interventions school counselors are planning to use, and, aside from a medical emergency, parents should be intimately involved with and have the final word on such treatment.

The San Francisco school board recall election last week, where voters unseated three board members with reputations for radical positions, was the latest in a string of voter activity that will help protect children from discrimination and aggressive sexual content in schools. Parents are advocating for their children—and Indiana lawmakers should defend the rights of both.

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Stop this ‘COVID-theatre’: Florida governor chides students for wearing face masks

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a fierce opponent of coronavirus mask and vaccine mandates, grew visibly annoyed and admonished a group of students for wearing face masks at a news conference on Thursday AEDT.

DeSantis, a Republican, approached the students and asked them to remove their masks as they waited for him at the news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

“You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything. We’ve got to stop with this COVID theatre. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous,” he said, letting out an audible sigh and shaking his head.

DeSantis is running for reelection and is considered to be a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate.

His opposition to masks and vaccines has drawn national attention, and his administration has banned mask mandates in schools.

DeSantis’ office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention late last month eased its masking guidelines.

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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