In Seattle public schools, educators want to drag math into the social justice war.

By next fall, leaders in the Seattle school district hope to implement a "K-12 Math Ethnic Studies Framework," which will explore how Western mathematics can "disenfranchise people and communities of color" and analyze "the ways in which ancient mathematical knowledge has been appropriated by Western culture."

In other words, two plus two might equal four, but it also means Westerners probably had to commit social justice crimes to get there. The framework subjugates the science of mathematics to a mere question of identity, aiming to foster "a sense of advocacy, empowerment, and action in the students that creates internal motivation to engage in and contribute to their identities as mathematicians."

Some choice questions from the ethnic studies framework include:



What is my mathematical identity?

Who gets to say if an answer is right?

How has math been used to resist and liberate people and communities of color from oppression?

When do I know/feel like I am a mathematician?

Can you advocate against oppressive mathematical practices?

Call me old-fashioned, but I always thought numbers were the things you couldn't politicize. Nevertheless, this education initiative seems to reflect a growing trend. As Education Week reports:



"In most places, if schools offer ethnic studies at all, it’s usually in a stand-alone course in high school. But increasingly, schools and districts are starting to sprinkle ethnic studies across the K-12 spectrum. Seattle is taking a highly unusual approach by weaving the field’s multicultural and political questions not just through all grade levels, but into all subjects."



Increasingly, public schools aren't saving revisionist history for fourth period. They're rewriting every subject to view even courses such as mathematics through a Marxist lens of power and oppression. So when little James comes trotting home from school, he might not remember his times tables, but at least he'll remember that they've supposedly been used as tools of marginalization.

Luckily, the ethnic studies framework is only a proposal, and it hasn't yet been adopted by Seattle schools. The fact that it is even being considered, though, speaks poorly of what now passes for education. If educators have an ounce of common sense, they'll drop the ethnic studies framework before math class becomes just another opportunity to advance a revisionist narrative.

Students in the United States rank only 40th in the world when it comes to math literacy. They don't need lessons on racial dynamics and class warfare — they just need to learn math.