I have worked with educational texts for almost ten years, often fact-checking. Descriptions of education as lopsidedly leftwing are not off-base. Perhaps 5% of incoming manuscripts from educational writers are ideologically neutral, 95% from left of center. I have never seen one that was identifiably conservative, even moderately. (The 5% may be the conservatives–or true liberals.) My feeling is that even moderatly liberal writers are becoming outnumbered by consciously activist writers. Debates in-house are between liberals and radicals.

Many of the science books I have seen present their topics as a logical progression ending in a final chapter with an environmentalist message. Even a book on rock ended (approximate memory, here), There is no shortage of rock, but if we use it wisely and not use too much, plenty will be left for future generations.

As for history and other social studies–forget about it. The level of factual accuracy is usually dreadful, but I do not have a point of comparison, since there are no conservative writers. Activism is extolled. Today’s social activists are portrayed as the inheritors of those who struggled for equal votes for women and civil rights for African-Amnericans. There are no examples of bad activism (although one or two companies I have not worked for have included references to Right-to-Life protests that apparently were meant to be taken negatively).

When I met with editors at one company to prepare for a fact-checking job, one was wearing a Che-Guevara T-shirt. Although I have made an impact on levels of accuracy and neutrality, it feels like a losing battle, and an increasingly insecure one.

Boots- Wolfe was not the only skeptic at the Bernstein party. An older friend who was present recalls an old woman raising her and and saying to the Panthers ‘Don’t you want to kill us?’ My friend also rejected the message, although she is still teaching and quite under the spell of the Ayerses of the world.

I disagree with your thesis that math ed is in poor shape. In fact, I would argue that most kids take too much math… Math that they don’t ever need later in life. I haven’t used much math beyond algebra in my life and most of the math skills I once had are long gone. Having said that, I would argue that many schools don’t do a good job of finding their math talent. The really good math students sometimes don’t get the opportunities and don’t get pushed, instead they get bored. I assure you this is not the case in my school. We have a school choice option and quite a few kids max-out their math in the HS by their junior year with AP Calc II. Then they go to the local college to take higher level math classes, and the high school pays for it. These are the future engineers. The rando kid that will never need geometry, though… Sure, he sucks at math.

The thing about your argument (the argument that kids are falling behind in STEM) is that every special interest group uses it. The business people say that kids are falling behind. High number of bankruptcies, credit card defaults, etc… Kids need more personal finance. The behavioral sciences people say that kids need more psychology because of the high number of mental illnesses. Then there is obesity. More phy-ed. My wife thinks kids have no art appreciation. And music. And kids can’t change their own oil, so we need required auto shop classes. For each argument, there is a group pushing an agenda on us schools. Kids don’t vote, so more requried civics. They don’t appreciate history or understand economics, so more social studies.

And still, our students are amazing. They are more fit, smarter, more capable of high level critical thinking skills and are FAR better with technology than we ever were.

Regarding the guy that had to teach kids to use a tape measure, what kind of kids was he hiring? Was he paying minimum wage for bad workers? If that’s the case, then he’ll get crappy workers. The good kids, the talented kids, the future engineers, they are working elsewhere for more.

Member countries (Jurisdictions) are bound by agreements and the study was conducted and run out of Australia not by the countries themselves. Non Members counties may have skewed numbers a bit since they are not bound my membership. So if you remove them the US ranks 25th out of 35 for 15 year olds in Math literacy and several points below world average.

Let’s put that aside altogether and speak about businesses in the US and what there saying about the METS (Math, Engineering, Technology and Science) jobs. In a 2006 METS conference the CEO of MO Southern Containers said he has to train high school graduates how to use a tape measure a skill they should have mastered in the 5th grade according to the MO GLE’s. Dr. Floyd Edison, former president of the University of Missouri said, “It’s not a problem, it’s a Crisis!” speaking of the Math education in the US. Finally according to the “Hart Rudman Commission on National Security 1999” our declining math and science scores represent the #2 security threat in the United States behind a man with a weapon of mass destruction detonating in a major American city.

The Unions are on the defense on this issue. The “The other guy is cheating” strategy is very common but just doesn’t hold water when you investigate. There is a large body of evidence that supports the assumption of a failing math and science curriculum in this country. I was a teacher for three years myself and I saw it before I knew it was a fact. Today, I run MOMETS.ORG a parent based group designed to help parents become part of a solution and I speak publically on the issue. We could use teacher support if you want to join.

What being an agent for social change does is actually stifle that empathy by only providing one accepted explanation for events. The student isn’t allowed to actually look at the ideas and sources for themselves, but has to evaluate them in the lines of some teacher’s pre-existing framework.

tl;dr: teach the material, it’s the best way to open minds. There’s no need to burden it with ideology, just be objective and balanced, and that will transfer over to your students.

Some perspective is in order. The profs that came of age in the 60′s were and are advocates of change. Fourty years ago, change meant an attempt at an integrated classroom or changing eductaion system to one that would eventually allow girls sports. Those were noble goals, and were worth fighting for. But the agents of change never stopped. Now these same professors seek an educational system that molds students to fit a liberal world view. They forget that “accepting diversity” also means accepting diversity of opinion and not making your classroom a place that is hostile to conservative views.

I think the noble profession had been pretty well done in already, even before the ministrations of arrogant bomber Ayers and his greasy haired, plagiarizing buddy Ward Churchill.

Both of whose brains are significantly addled from decades of drug use. Both of whom hate the America that pays (or paid) their professional salaries.

In Math and Science we are failing and there is an effort to rewrite the history books with left propaganda. Juvenile obesity is at an all time high…Hitler said and I paraphrase, “Keep them fed and stupid and they will follow you” Ayers seems to have completed at one of those goals and the other is taking care of itself.

Home schooling sounds pretty good, but in the end our entire educational system needs to be completely transformed and the unions removed.

Check out the Powerpoint in my linkedin page for references on the math numbers. http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_upphoto&goback=%2Ehom

Like almost any humanities class, the professors are to the left of many of their students. Many of these students will keep their head down and nod along, whether from sincere agreement, or fear of repercussions (real or imagined) if they speak their mind.