Nobody wants to teach anymore

"The sieve" is insane. And it begins early. While there are plenty of people who get to play professional sports who weren't in peewee, who didn't do travel ball, etc. It does not hurt.

Because in order to even get a shot to play professionally, you have to play well in college, preferably at a notable school. In order to get a shot to play well in a notable college, you have to play well in high school. That means you have to make varsity, play on the team, be a starter. And that usually means you have to be ready to play when you get to high school. And the best way to do that is to play peewee, travel ball, etc.

You'll find out if the kid is coachable, if he can be made coachable, if he's got aptitude, etc.

So do you have some other estimate of their relative intelligence?

False. I want to teach, I just don't want to teach in the environment we've created for teachers to exist in.

> This is against the site's rules.

I apologize, that was a knee jerk reaction because I've never seen the assertion that 2+2=4 is racist before, only that math can be used inaccurately (purposefully or by accident) in racial contexts. I was a bit taken aback by the assertion and should have engaged differently.

> Funny how you build up a straw man. I never claimed any of that.

This isn't a straw man, I'm not building up some contrived argument here; the original comment was that "2+2=4 is racist" is a rallying cry for [some not insignificant number of math teachers].

> For example the Wall Street Journal. And hundreds of similar articles.

I did find this Opinion while googling, and read the parent Op-Ed (https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-leftists-try-to-canc...) and then followed through to the framework but I just don't see anything about the manual they were talking about in that Op-Ed in the works cited (seems like all references to the manual have since been removed). So I dug up the wayback machine on the page to see the context in which they were using the "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction" manual.

> A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction (https://equitablemath.org/) is an integrated approach to mathematics that centers Black, Latinx, and linguistically diverse students in grades 6–8, addresses barriers to mathematics equity, and aligns instruction to grade-level priority standards. The Pathway offers guidance and resources for immediate use in planning their curriculum, while also offering opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist mathematics practice. The toolkit “strides” (above) serve as multiple on-ramps for educators as they navigate the individual and collective journey from equity to anti-racism. It is a collection of resources to help grades 6–8 Black, LatinX, and linguistically diverse students thrive in mathematics education.

Ok so generally seems like they're recommending the usage in primarily POC or mixed classrooms where the considerations for teaching might be a bit different due to a multitude of factors.

Now digging into the manual a bit, the titles are definitely inflammatory but the content is honestly fairly humdrum (quotes taken from the first chapter https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11...)

• Teach rich, thoughtful, complex mathematics. • Teach rigorous mathematics, understanding that rigor is characterized as thorough, exhaustive, and interdisciplinary. • Use mistakes as opportunities for learning. • Recognize mistakes as miscommunicated knowledge. • Allow for engagement in productive struggle • Teach students of color about the career and financial opportunities in math and STEM fields. • Encourage them to disrupt the disproportionate push-out of people of color in those fields. • Invite leaders and innovators of color working in STEAM fields to meet your students. • Rely on teamwork and collaboration as much as possible. • Teach mathematics through project-based learning and other engaging approaches. • Provide multiple opportunities for students to learn from and teach each other. • Intentionally include mathematicians of color. • Expose students to mathematicians of color, particularly women of color and queer mathematicians of color, both through historical examples and by inviting community guest speakers. • Teach students of color about their mathematical legacy and ancestral connection and mastery of math. • Honor and acknowledge the mathematical knowledge of students of color, even if it shows up unconventionally. • Give rightful credit to the discovery of math concepts by mathematicians of color. Reclaim concepts attributed to white mathematicians that should be attributed to mathematicians of color.

Which all seems fairly reasonable here to my eyes. I will 100% agree with any assertions that the titles are very standoffish and even straight up accusatory but the content of the manual really seems like something good teachers should strive for. So to conclude I don't think that 2+2=4 is racist is really a rallying cry, the literature cited everywhere seems to talk mainly towards the teaching methodologies employed.

I would argue that ROI is extremely important in education. It's just that the "return" on our investment is not purely financial. Producing students who will be competent to effectively participate in and wisely run the society of tomorrow is a large part of the return that we seek. So, to that extent it may be that high special needs costs are worth it if they demonstrably help students become self-sufficient instead of dependent wards of the state. I can't say for sure that they are worth it, I'm saying that the mere fact that they're expensive doesn't mean they aren't cost-effective in the greater sense.