Weekly Math Updates

August 11, 2005

Hello Petition Signers,

One of you sent in a little nicer sheet with slips to pass out so I've modified mine and thought I'd resend it to everyone.  It would go a long way toward helping fix the problem in our district if you would print a few of these sheets and pass them out in your neighborhood and send emails to your local friends and family encouraging them to sign the petition.  Thank you to those that have been doing this.  Every little bit helps.

Our school district is using three programs promoted by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  That name makes it sound like something they should really be in favor of our children getting a solid education doesn't it?

The programs we are using are:

Investigations Math for K-6

Connected Math for Jr. High

Interactive Math for High School

These three programs have all been condemned by top math professors and Nobel Laureates.  Over 200 of them signed one document to the Secretary of Education under President Clinton, and another document signed by mostly different people sent to President Clinton, with I think about 100 signatures, asking him to read a book by E.D. Hirsche called, "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them."  I have given Barry Graff a copy of this book which shows that every major educational study performed shows that direct instruction, where teachers teach the students, is the best way for the majority of children to learn.  The NSF, for whatever reason, has taken the opposite approach calling this method of instruction with pencil and paper methods of math "counterproductive and downright dangerous."  This information is all on my website.

Someone famous, can't recall exactly who at the moment, said, "when good people do nothing, evil triumphs."  Our children are in the midst of an evil that seeks to limit their education to only what they can figure out.  We need your help to fight this battle.  Please tell people about the petition and encourage them to sign it.  It doesn't matter if they homeschool or have kids in charter or private schools.  We need their signatures.

Please do something to help.  Get just 5 more signatures.  It will help tremendously.

Sincerely,

Oak Norton

http://www.oaknorton.com/mathpetition.cfm

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