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Statement of Purpose:
To serve as an independent voice in assisting others to make
intelligent education decisions for the good of each of our nation’s
children.
In Washington State today,
the legislature’s focus is currently on improving mathematics
education. Much money, time, and energy are being devoted to this
major public and political concern.
In truth, there have been
an astonishing number of individuals and groups supposedly focused on
assisting our children in the learning of mathematics in the past two
decades. Unfortunately many of their real priorities have been
job security, salary, profits, winning grant proposals, expansion of
turf, rewards of publishing new supposedly innovative materials,
increasing prestige, and pushing the politically correct point of
view. The primary question in education must always be: Whose
interests are we serving? If it is not for the children, it must be
for the adults and that is unacceptable.
To improve a system
involves the intelligent application of relevant accurate statistical
data that is relatively bias-free. In education there is very
little of such data.
Despite all the above,
Charles and I, with your help, will attempt to present the truth to
assist you in fulfilling your role in our democracy as a watch dog
of these groups, many of whom are extremely powerful within
government and business circles. The kids need your help.
In regard to mathematics,
our nation is becoming less and less internationally competitive.
Thus the acknowledged power groups, which include the National
Science Foundation, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, U.S.
Department of Education, National Education Association, Washington
Education Association, Washington State Board of Education, Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction, many local school boards, many
local superintendents and district offices, should be viewed as
possible agents in marching us into this continued decline. The
ridicule expressed by many in these groups to any ideas
different from their own is an effort to stifle questions for
which they have no factually-based answers.
There were no good old days
but we can profit from the past. We need to intelligently direct
our energy to the present and the future.
Our goal is therefore to
direct energy to the present and the future with intelligence, which
can be defined as knowing the right thing to do at the right time
to produce results in the best interests of all our children.
Sincerely,
Danaher M. Dempsey, Jr.
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