In a shocking development, a judge in Seattle has ruled in favor of parent, university professor, and a retired math teacher who sued the school district there to get them to reconsider their constructivist math curriculum choice, Discovery Math. The district is indicating that it will appeal. From the decision:
“The court finds, based upon a review of the entire administrative record, that there is insufficient evidence for any reasonable member to approve selection of the Discovering series.”
Here is the story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
While parent groups all over the country have been struggling to change their districts’ math programs, I have not heard of a lawsuit being successful before now. Even the plaintiffs’ own lawyer was initially pessimistic about their chances.
Despite this news I am personally opposed to a lawsuit here, and I say that knowing that some parents will disagree with me on this. Lawsuits can be divisive and counterproductive, and I am confident that our Board is beginning to take steps on its own to address our math problems. This may be naive, but I still think it’s early in the game for us in State College because successful efforts to change the curriculum in other districts across the country have generally taken longer than a few months.
