California's 'social justice' math shows 'misplaced priorities' amid low proficiency, advocate says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CITC) — The state of California is facing accusations of "misplaced priorities" for releasing framework on implementing "social justice" into mathematics amid parent calls for improved education.

The California Department of Education (CDE) and the California State Board of Education (SBE) released anew math framework last week which provides instructional guidance for public school teachers across the state. One of the sections focuses on teaching "for equity and engagement," and it advises math educators "to teach toward social justice."

One way the CDE and SBE believe educators can accomplish that is by leading "culturally responsive" lessons which include "contributions that historically marginalized people have made to mathematics." In the guidance, the departments encourage teachers and students to refrain from "being focused on one way of thinking or one right answer."

"Despite what the proponents of this plan might say, it's not really designed to boost academic achievement," Angela Morabito,a spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) and former press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, told Crisis in the Classroom (CITC). "It's designed to further a progressive goal that exists in the minds of adults ... The math framework really does show misplaced priorities."

The CDE and SBE acknowledge in the guidance that math proficiency is on the decline statewide, with less than one third of students meeting or exceeding expectations for their grade level during the 2021-22 academic year. Data provided by the departments shows that achievement gaps have continued to widen, with math proficiency amongst Black students this year sitting more than 30 percentage points below that of White students.

Those statistics have been consistently highlighted by parents across California who are pushing to make "high-quality education" a constitutional right.

California parents launched "The Constitutional Right to a High-Quality Public Education Act" in 2021, and they are attempting to get the measure on this fall's state ballot. It would allow parents to sue school districts if they believe their children are not being provided with a proper education, defined as "the skills necessary to fully participate in the economy, our democracy and our society" in the campaign.

READ MORE | California parents propose making 'high-quality education' a constitutional right

The campaign argues that California is failing students by enforcing "curricula that is not developmentally appropriate" and directing "excessive funding to a bloated education bureaucracy."

"If this plan were really about fostering students' strengths and getting them to do math at a high level, you would see the framework want to give every opportunity to students to advance in their math classes," Morabito told CITC. "A framework that moves to limit opportunities to supposedly spare other people's feelings is not what parents want."

A spokesperson for SBE told CITC that the new framework "aims to increase math learning by creating pathways that enable all students to reach advanced math coursework, including courses like Calculus, that are a gateway to STEM careers."

"It will also provide new opportunities for those who need more assistance to have multiple ways to catch up and surge ahead," the spokesperson told CITC. "California already outperforms other states in mitigating math learning loss; the framework will further move California students in the right direction.”