In an effort to eliminate opportunity gap, MCPS bans teaching of inequalities
ROCKVILLE, MD - In a shocking move this Monday, the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education entirely eliminated teaching any inequalities from the 2024-2025 curriculum. In a 7-1 (Only the student member dissented) decision which, of course, followed the recommendation of the superintendent, the Board said “Inequality is unjust no matter its place in the world, whether that be in our courts, in our streets, and even in our classrooms. That’s why we’re taking this brave step to close the opportunity gap in our schools by preventing our students from coming in contact with these topics that might be upsetting.”
The relations, featuring such classics as “less than” and “greater than and equal to”, seem unassuming at first glance. Enflate Dego, Senior Equity Fellow at North Westfordshire College, says, that’s just what they want you to think. “The inequality may seem harmless,” says Dego, “but it really masks a dark legacy of oppressing others. Just take a look at the equation y > x. Now, what you may not see here is that this equation is implying that one group - x - is less, or worse than another group - y. Now, we can obviously see the relationship between this ‘numerical racism’ and real-life discrimination.” The measure also banned the teaching of odd and even numbers, claiming that “The term ‘odd’ is a symptom of an inherent bias in our community that we need to address. Also, it offends one guy on our team named Todd.”
Not everyone is so supportive of the plan, Addison Minus, a spokesperson for the International Association of Mathematics Educators, says that the plan impacts the teaching of certain subjects, “How are we supposed to teach calculus when we can’t demonstrate to our students the subject of integrals?” Minus also said that when confronted about this the school district just told them “Calculus is an integral part of education, however, the teaching of these advanced math concepts only widens the opportunity gap.”
However, not everyone is in opposition. Joe Archibaldson, Deputy Assistant Undersecretary for Administrative Affairs Pertaining to Equity, thinks that the measures are not sufficient. “I don’t think it goes far enough. How can our children sit by as we watch innocent numbers be divided against each other? Really, all of this math stuff is inherently flawed. We should take the approach of Cambridge Public Schools and abolish advanced math altogether.” The MCPS school board has already said that no spectators will be allowed at their next meeting because of the expected protests by Moms for Derivatives and the Math Justice Association.
