By E-mail
Dear Ms. Segarra,
I just learned that the Board of Education
is about to approve a huge expendature on mathematics curriculum and
professional development for teachers.
All of the programs being considered are substandard ``fuzzy math'' that
are worse than what is in place now. I
am a
professional mathematician with 20 years
of teaching experience. I have had two
kids in district 2 schools, one is still at Stuyvesant. I have examined many of
the curricula being considered, including TERC, ARISE, and CMP. These programs were created by people with a
limited understanding of mathematics and no idea how mathematics is used in
college. Children taught with these
curricula are being set up to fail when they join the real world. The vast majority of professional
mathematicians and scientists feel as I do, as evidenced by the more than 200
signatures on the "Klein letter" protesting fuzzy programs. The State Board of Education in
I strongly urge the Board of
Education to gather more facts before making such a large committment. It is only a matter of time before fuzzy math
goes the way of whole language. Let
Respectfully,
Jonathan Goodman
Professor
of Mathematics
Courant Institute, NYU