Florida rejects 41% of new math textbooks, citing critical race theory among its reasons

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Warrigal said:
Only at present? Scopes monkey trial???
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That concerned the separation of church and state issue, still active in today's legal jurisprudence. The freedom of religion clause of our First Amendment had not yet applied to the states, it was based on violation of a Tennessee statute. Today it is a Federal Courts jurisdiction mainly.
 
Alligatorob said:
I must be way out of touch, but what could or should a math book say about race???

It would be interesting to see examples of offending language or equations, or whatever...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/17/us/florida-math-textbooks-critical-race-theory/index.html
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I seriously wondered the same thing Rob. I'm not even going to read the article right now. I don't feel like dealing with stupid stuff at this point in the evening. šŸ˜–
 

Warrigal said:
Before the word 'woke' appeared in popular jargon we had a period when some politicians objected to the way history and social studies texts covered the topic of colonisation of Australia. When we were kids we got the impression that the British did the poor savages a favour by spreading out across the continent with sheep, cattle and advanced technologies. There was never any attempt to help us to see that the Aboriginal experience might have been one of dispossession and suffering.

People who pointed out this disconnect were accused of presenting a "black armband view" of Australian history. The same sort of hue and cry was made about school curricula and it was led by our most senior politician, the PM himself (no names, no pack drill). The media fanned the flames with wild stories about how white children were being made to feel bad about their heritage.

Decades later we are in a very different place. There has been an apology made in Parliament to children who were stolen from their communities and to their children for the emotional pain that continues to sadden their hearts. A handful of parliamentarians left the chamber but the vast majority gave a long standing ovation. The Indigenous people in the gallery and outside on the lawn wept.

Just about every public meeting and most church services now begin with a 'welcome to country' that acknowledges the particular Aboriginal group that continue to be the traditional owners of the land on which we stand because ownership was never ceded by any treaty.

We are now at the point where there is discussion about amending the Constitution to provide a formal voice to the parliament for Indigenous people. It is by no means certain that this will come to pass but in my mind this is progress. It is history moving forward not backwards, and it is certainly not wokeness, whatever that ugly word means.
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Thank you @Warrigal did you know that we the Traditional Owners of Australia were only included in the Australian Census after a Referendum in 1967? Being a proud South Aussie Aboriginal Elder I hope we will be included in the Australian Constitution.
I would like to see that before I die and no I am not ill but I am 70 this year.
 
ohioboy said:
That concerned the separation of church and state issue, still active in today's legal jurisprudence. The freedom of religion clause of our First Amendment had not yet applied to the states, it was based on violation of a Tennessee statute. Today it is a Federal Courts jurisdiction mainly.
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The Snopes monkey trial, as it was known, concerned a teacher in a government school teaching his students about Darwin's theory of the Origin of Species. It was science, not religion. Doesn't the Constitutional separation of church and state prohibit religious teaching in public schools? It isn't intended to censor legitimate science education.

Any way, the teacher lost the case.

I am assuming that today references to evolution, the estimated age of the Earth and Continental Drift might still cause science text books to be rejected in some states ???

Am I right?
 
peramangkelder said:
Thank you @Warrigal did you know that we the Traditional Owners of Australia were only included in the Australian Census after a Referendum in 1967? Being a proud South Aussie Aboriginal Elder I hope we will be included in the Australian Constitution.
I would like to see that before I die and no I am not ill but I am 70 this year.
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I sure do. Like the majority of Australians in every state I voted Yes in that referendum.
I voted NO for the other two questions on the ballot which were about breaking the nexus between the number of senators and the number in the House of Reps. Those proposals did not pass. Australians are not that dumb.

It was a significant victory for Indigenous people because it offered them a shield against state abuse of power but in the long run it has been been abused by federal governments passing legislation supposed to be for Indigenous benefit but that claim has often been debatable.

The next move forward will be the Indigenous Voice to the Parliament. My YES vote is ready and waiting. I will be 80 next year.
 
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Warrigal said:
The Snopes monkey trial, as it was known, concerned a teacher in a government school teaching his students about Darwin's theory of the Origin of Species. It was science, not religion.
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True, I should have worded it differently. Although the trial was criminal in nature, it very well could have resulted in a civil lawsuit, as Tennessee's Constitution also has a free exercise clause like the 1st AM, which translates into teaching one means of origin, Evolution, it excludes others.
 
We are a bit off topic now but just wanted to add that at the time of the Snopes trial there was opposition to the state position from leaders of the Jewish and major Christian denominations who objected to the teaching of just one religious viewpoint. They had other theologies that were not being examined. It was the favouring of one religion over others that was said to violate the Constitution.
 
Warrigal said:
As a former mathematic teacher I cannot understand what "anti-racism" language could find its way into a mathematics text. I would like to see examples of the actual offending inclusions, in context.

As for me, I object to the 'woke' description because that term is very ill defined. Mathematics is all about very well defined terms.

I taught junior high maths for years. We taught theory of number and history of number as well as different systems - imperial, decimal, binary and hexadecimal, Roman, Chinese, and Hindu Arabic. Is that being 'woke'?

I could even take the kids outside and show them how our indigenous people were able to measure the height of tall trees, from ground level, without using a tape or trigonometry. How 'woke' is that?

We also showed them how the ancient Egyptians were able to make square corners for the base of a pyramid. None of the above is wokeness. It is enrichment.

Please give me an example of woke mathematics in a child's text book.
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Until we see examples, we can only guess.

Seems like more of a history issue, doesn't it?
 
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Warrigal said:
I am assuming that today references to evolution, the estimated age of the Earth and Continental Drift might still cause science text books to be rejected in some states ???

Am I right?
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Evolution is taught in science class these days, but only the evolution of specific animals and birds. The evolution of humans isn't included until high school level and above, and it's presented as a theory. At least one other related theory is also taught: the cohabitation and interbreeding of one early human species with another.
 
Murrmurr said:
Evolution is taught in science class these days, but only the evolution of specific animals and birds. The evolution of humans isn't included until high school level and above, and it's presented as a theory. At least one other related theory is also taught: the cohabitation and interbreeding of one early human species with another.
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What different human species would that be?

My Ancestry DNA results came back and I now have proof that I have alien genes in my not too distant past. (relax, haters, I'm just joking... or am I?)
 
Warrigal said:
Taking your question seriously...

There is some evidence that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens cohabited the same territory at the same time. The assumption is that there was possibly some exchange of genetic material from time to time.
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Murrmurr said:
Neanderthal with Denisovans, for example...about 65,000 years ago.
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I'm thinking those Neanderthal guys were either very sexy or very horny.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I don't feel like dealing with stupid stuff at this point in the evening.
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Understood, I know I started this thing, and when I did I had no idea what I was opening up. I had no idea all of this nonsense was happening. Reading all of these posts leaves me tired and no smarter, not that people did not give it some reasonable analysis, its just a bit much for me.

All I can do is repeat what I and others have said, teaching math is important, good math skills are needed by a lot of people, competent by all. That should be our objective in school, and unless there is evidence that injecting these things help students learn I don't know why they are there.

I am sensitive to wanting all school books to appear unbiased, but just including diversity in the names or pictures in a math book ought to be enough.

I had heard the words "Critical Race Theory" before but I can't say I understand what all it means. I did look it up in Wikipedia so I know a little more now. It does appear to me to be something worthy of discussion, debate, and analysis. I just don't think elementary school math books are the right place for that. In fact, as evidenced in this thread, it distracts folks from talking about the real problems.

However as I was unable to find the offending language in the Florida text books I am not sure there was anything wrong with them. Showing the problematic language would seem to me to be a minimum before banning a book.
 
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I found this link to the FL DOE web site. Take it for what it is worth:

Florida DOE

p.s. - I'm about 3% Neanderthal, and proud of it!
 
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Buckeye said:
I found this link to the FL DOE web site. Take it for what it is worth:

Florida DOE

p.s. - I'm about 3% Neanderthal, and proud of it!
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The first two examples shown at that link are pretty advanced level senior level. I reckon students at that level can cope with that kind of content. Personally I would pass on the graph that illustrates data based on political identification but the one based on age level should not be too controversial. I'm assuming that the data is from a reliable source, not some TV or radio survey.

The implicit Association Test using polynomials is new to me but again, this is very advanced level for secondary students. The association with something real will stimulate interest and also be personally challenging.

In the end, it all boils down to the choice of teaching/learning materials. In my time that meant a text book. Today it means material available online, including interactive instruction modules.

These materials are not cost free and schools and students should have access through adequate funding to the very best materials on offer. And excellent library facilities. If I was going to die in a ditch over anything, this is where I would make my last stand.
 
peramangkelder said:
Being a proud South Aussie Aboriginal Elder I hope we will be included in the Australian Constitution.
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That is interesting, don't believe I have ever met an Australian Aboriginal! Are y'all excluded from the Australian constitution? How should you be included?
Warrigal said:
Doesn't the Constitutional separation of church and state prohibit religious teaching in public schools?
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Our first amendment is not real specific about that, it simply reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

There have, of course, been many court decisions interpreting it.
 
Warrigal said:
The first two examples shown at that link are pretty advanced level senior level. I reckon students at that level can cope with that kind of content. Personally I would pass on the graph that illustrates data based on political identification but the one based on age level should not be too controversial. I'm assuming that the data is from a reliable source, not some TV or radio survey.

The implicit Association Test using polynomials is new to me but again, this is very advanced level for secondary students. The association with something real will stimulate interest and also be personally challenging.

In the end, it all boils down to the choice of teaching/learning materials. In my time that meant a text book. Today it means material available online, including interactive instruction modules.

These materials are not cost free and schools and students should have access through adequate funding to the very best materials on offer. And excellent library facilities. If I was going to die in a ditch over anything, this is where I would make my last stand.
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Of course the Implicit Association Test is also a load of rubbish. Even its creators say it doesn't work.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/3/7/14637626/implicit-association-test-racism
 

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