A law in the United States demands that all children within its borders attend school and attain some form of formal education. Why? So that our future and the generations that come afterward can be successful and build on what we have.
But what happens when that education isn’t doing any good anymore? Unfortunately, that seems to be the case in Baltimore these days, as zero out of 2,000 students have tested as proficient in basic math skills.
According to WBFF, Project Baltimore recently surveyed 2,000 students spread throughout 23 of Baltimore’s city schools. And not a single one of them tested at grade level for the 2021-2022 school year.
Basically, not a single Baltimore student knows or understands the math skills needed for either their grade or to continue to other steps and eventually life. And as you can imagine, that’s a major problem.
It’s problem enough that one man has actually even sued the Baltimore City Schools because of it.
As Jovani Patterson stated in his suit against the schools, “We, the taxpayer, are funding our own demise. It just sounds like these schools, now, have turned into essentially babysitters with no accountability. This is the future of our city. We’ve got to change this.”
He makes a good point; well, several, actually.
First and foremost, the whole point of sending our kids to school is to learn the skills needed to be a successful and proficient part of society. And yet, it would seem that these kids aren’t learning that at all.
As Patterson explained, these kids aren’t learning even the basics. And that means that come the time for it, they won’t know how to count their money. They won’t know how to budget. They won’t be prepared to buy groceries, read contracts, or negotiate salaries. And they certainly won’t be equipped to do accounting, build homes, or do their taxes.
WBFF further reported just how staggering this lack of proficiency is.
Out of ALL Baltimore students between third and eighth grade, a mere 7 percent tested at proficient math grade levels. That means a whopping 93 percent of all of those students, and there are thousands of them, cannot do math.
But as Patterson eluded to, funding for Baltimore schools is actually up.
As Democratic Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, recently explained, his administration has put forward the “largest investment in public education” in the state’s history. And yet, testing scores are lower than ever.
So what’s the disconnect?
Well, as it would turn out, massive amounts of unregulated funding do not necessarily mean education is made better. And it certainly doesn’t mean kids will start performing better. It just means schools have more resources.
They might have more money to buy equipment, pay teachers’ salaries, improve building maintenance, etc. Sure, all those things matter and can help schools improve. But none of that equivalates to better student understanding or learning.
What really matters is the curricula.
And for far too many schools and teachers, that is no longer centered on rudimentary teachings like mathematics and reading.
Instead, it’s intertwined with ideas like critical race theory that actually teach that establishments like mathematics are racist and oppressive. Apparently, because only those in power, historically whites, needed such skills, the idea of forcing it onto students now is rooted in white supremacy.
In fact, according to a 2020 statement put out by the Mathematics Association of America, “mathematics is created by humans and therefore inherently carries human biases.” And so that means mathematicians need to be having more race-based conversations.
I’m sorry, but how are formulas and numbers “inherently biased?” They are facts and statistics. They can’t think for themselves or prefer one race over another no more than the grass we walk on does. They are inanimate.
To suggest such is malarkey, to use one of Biden’s favorite words.
Furthermore, it’s ludicrous to insist that teaching a student to count, work through formulas, and compute algorithms is somehow racist. Unfortunately, some teachers are, in fact, giving lessons on just that.
It’s no wonder our students are actually learning anything. Of course, if they never learn these necessary skills, the left will have them right where they want them, completely reliant on a government in full control of them.
