News and thanks

3/21/10 Update

Thanks to all the people who have written, expressing your support and dedication to this effort, and also to those who have so generously made financial donations. We are many, many people nationwide standing in solidarity in our commitment to make effective math education accessible to all students.

I apologize to those who have looked for news recently on this blog: I've been following other math ed news, but little has been happening directly regarding our lawsuit, so I haven't sat down to give updates.

In the last 6 weeks, there has been an outpouring of support for our lawsuit and its outcome, as well a surge of determination to deflect the tide of inquiry-based math instruction that has flooded so many of our schools. I've been very moved by letters from parents who have struggled (heroically, and often poignantly, it seems to me) to support their children in developing strong math skills despite curricula that they found confusing, unintelligible, and deeply discouraging. I strongly believe that, whether the Seattle School District's appeal of Judge Spector's decision succeeds or fails, the continuing legal action will only heighten public awareness of the tragic and devastating results of the nationwide inquiry-based math experiment. The public NEEDS TO KNOW about this debacle. I think/hope that our lawsuit and its aftermath are helping this to happen.

SPS appeal:
We are waiting for the Seattle School District's detailed petition to be filed against Judge Spector's ruling that SPS's adoption of Discovering Math was arbitrary and capricious. For my part, I have not yet done my homework (blush!) of reviewing video of the verbal announcement of the appeal, made at the March 3rd Seattle School Board meeting. My understanding is that the appeal is primarily based on the issue of precedent.

State Supreme court action, Writ of Mandamus:
Dan Dempsey, an advocate who has unearthed some of the most compelling evidence regarding the failure of inquiry-based programs, is pursuing another legal action which may help our cause. Dan is working with attorney Scott Stafne and several individuals (including me) who have been involved in legal actions against SPS to challenge, in Washington State Supreme Court, the Seattle School District's repeated failure to consider evidence presented by the public. For further info, go to Dan's Mathunderground blog (a link is listed under the “Links” heading, below left).

Other News:

The Bellevue School District (east of Lake Washington) high school adoption committee has voted 18 to 8 for Holt Mathematics! This is an incredible victory for sane math advocates, as well as for all Bellevue students and their parents. Many individuals put forth enormous amounts of time and effort in bringing forth this success; they say that our lawsuit was very helpful in setting the stage for the final vote. Hopefully, the completion of the process, including the school board vote, will confirm that the committee's choice for explicit math curriculum will be implemented.

Spokane: Another victory for coherent high school math curriculum has been won in Spokane, where Laurie Rogers has worked for many months to make sure that all the pertinent information was available and that the adoption committee was allowed to carry out a legitimate decision making process. See Laurie's blog (listed below, left) for her riveting description of this hard fought campaign.

Issaquah: Another neighboring school District, Issaquah, east of Bellevue, has seen its adoption committee recommend Discovering, despite compelling evidence of the deficiencies of inquiry-based programs. Mark Van Horne has spearheaded an extraordinary effort to gather data and public support to urge the ISD School Board to reject the committee's decision. The vote will be held on March 24th. I will post a link to his blog ASAP.

Also, for you who might like to see us, I will post a link school board testimony given by Dan Dempsey and myself after the board voted to approve Discovering last May.

Seattle Schools is Appealing Textbook Decision

Today we received notice of the Seattle School District's decision to appeal the Decision of Judge Spector which required the SPS board to reconsider its high school math text adoption vote.

I am deeply disappointed that SPS will funnel more resources into this appeal, which, I suspect, will be more costly than following the judge's instruction to reconsider.

Our attorney tells me: “.... I’ll put in a notice of appearance, and then we wait for the District to complete the record by having the documents and transcripts transmitted to the Court of Appeals.  They write the first brief, due 45 days after the record is complete.

 You are still entitled to urge the District to withdraw the notice of appeal ....”

After the first brief, we will file a reply, the district will file a rebuttal, and there will ultimately be a hearing before three Appellate Court judges.