An Open letter from Gary Bettan to the Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education

Dear Jon, Debbie, Cheryl, Ginger, Wendy, Evy and Cathy,

It’s obvious that the entire BOE is very concerned about the math issues and you are looking for the best solutions. Thank you for listening to the community’s concerns about math standards in our district. I heard the board ask important questions about Integrated Algebra. I noticed that you put the horse before the cart - namely wanting a resolution to the text / curriculum issue before you made a final decision on the timetable. NYS has put school districts in a difficult situation.

Now we need you to use that same approach to addressing and fixing the problem with math in our district.  I regret that I wasn't paying closer attention when the TERC and later Connected Math programs were put in. At the time I thought the math had some silly components to it, from the homework I saw, but I didn't realize how far from a mainstream approach it actually was and that essential mathematical algorithms and tools were being ignored. I deeply regret not learning more and speaking out for my children at the time. 

I’ve always felt that my kids were bored and not being challenged in math. I realize now just how little math education they were actually being given. Back in January I started asking my kids what I thought were simple math problems for their grade levels (Max is in 6th, Gabby is in 4th). Much to my dismay, my very bright children who always bring home great grades in math, are 2 grades behind where I was as a kid - and just as far behind my friend’s kids in neighboring districts. How will we rescue the "TERC babies" who were the leading part of this failed experiment and now find themselves so far behind?

Middle School Mathematics Comparisons for Singapore Mathematics, Connected Mathematics Program, and Mathematics in Context: A Summary This report was written by several members of the Applied Mathematics Department at the University of Washington in 2001. There are several significant admissions by the very people who are endorsing Connected Math. Their statements clearly show these programs are inferior and can harm the math abilities of our children. It is also our prediction that students wishing to take calculus before the end of their 12th grade year are likely not to be on track to do so after completing 8th grade CMP or MIC, but would be ready to do so after completing Singapore s SL2.  We are not advocating that calculus in high school should be a goal for all students, but if this is the desired goal for certain students, the proper supplementation of CMP and MIC at an accelerated pace cannot be ignored.  Moreover, we are skeptical about the possibility of maintaining the interest of high-end students while progressing at the pace necessitated by the discovery process , if care is not taken to individualize these discoveries for the students . Click here to read the report

I can't stress enough to you how upset I am about the MEDIOCRE education our schools are giving my kids. The administration seems to think that our children are not capable of excelling in mathematics and that we as parents are unable or afraid of math as well – just because we are Americans.  Our community is made up of accountants, businessmen, engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs and other professionals. We know math, and we want our children to have the opportunity to EXCEL in mathematics. As I pointed out in the Board of Ed meeting, the proponents of the Connected Math program admitted in their own comparative study of Middle School curriculums that is not recommended for students planning on taking Calculus in 12th grade. Didn't anyone look into this before it was implemented? I seriously question just how much investigating and research was done prior to expanding the failing Constructivist math into the middle school.

Lack of accountability in our schools concerns me greatly.Dr. Brooks insists the curriculum isn't to blame. He says it's the implementation and the people teaching it. If you agree with him on this, then why has nothing been done to correct and manage this? It’s easy to blame the teachers, but accountability starts at the top and works its way down.  Why hasn’t the board held the Superintendent, Math Chairperson or the individual principals at each school accountable for what is going on?

When TERC Investigations was brought to our district it was implemented with a very heavy hand. The Math leader’s in our district seized all the math textbooks, chastised children for using tutors, ridiculed parents who tried to teach their kids traditional math methods and coerced any teachers who deviated from the reform math program or tried to use traditional math supplements. These strong-arm tactics were justified by telling us they needed to prevent these traditional math methods from polluting their program.

Five years later where are we?
Not only have we failed to raise the bar above NYS Standards, up until just recently you have ignored the input of parents in our community. Finally the Administration and district experts admit that the program has gaps and they are diligently working to fill them with supplements. These are the same experts who have outlawed the use of supplements for the past 5 years! The parents knew it was severely lacking immediately, but the Administration blindly followed this program without the use of their own better judgment because they are biased and care more about their Constructivist education theory than about our children. It shouldn’t have taken a petition and a website for someone in the Plainview school system to realize that 7x8, long division, 4 quarts make a gallon, or how to make change from a $10 bill was missing from the curriculum! Parents figured it out, but unfortunately we were ignored. How is it that only now, after the parents in the community are up in arms does the Superintendent, Math Chairperson, Math leaders and Principals realize this? Right now it’s hard to have confidence in the promises of the same math team going forward when they have such a dismal track record. They let us down and my kids’ education is too important to be entrusted to a B squad.

Dr. Brooks keeps saying that there is no evidence or proof that the curriculum is to blame for our poor scores. I've heard him say it in private and in public meetings. Everyone who watched News12 heard him say those exact words. I have to ask - "What proof do you have that it is working"? Once again I must stress that mediocrity is not and must not be the goal of our school system. We expect excellence. That is the reason we moved here and that is why we approve the school budgets every year despite our high taxes. We are willing to pay top dollar, but we expect to get the results we are paying for. If Dr. Brooks with all his knowledge and connections and ties to the Constructivist community can't make TERC work, who can??? The proof is in the pudding. The math scores are not going up, they are going down. The parents, your customers and the people paying the bills, are not happy with it. Less then 4,000 people voted in the last election. Over 850 have signed the petition. For every person who signed it you can bet there are 2 or 3 others who want to but won't. Why? Because they are afraid to - I don’t want to go into their reasoning, I'm just telling you that the 850 signers are just the tip of the iceberg.

P-OB vs Nassau 2005-06 4th Grade By School
Rank*	School	Level 4	Passing
15	Parkway	66	100
74	Old Bethpage	47	98
103	Stratford	38	90
150	Pasadena	28	92
* Rank Out of 182 Schools in Nassau

While Dr. Brooks keeps saying the teachers love the curriculum (and I'm sure some do), I'm hearing from folks all over Plainview and Old Bethpage that their teachers are so happy we are doing this. They tell them to keep up the fight and to not give up. I have another problem that I simply can't dismiss. I call it the "Parkway Syndrome". It is a common perception around town that the Principal and teachers are stronger at Parkway and that the kids in that school get a better education.

You can try and dismiss it, but when you see the homework and assignments Parkway kids get compared to the other schools there is simply no denying it. Parkway isn’t following the TERC curriculum, they are teaching traditional math with TERC Investigations. It should come as no surprise that they had the highest math scores as well. Unfortunately since Parkway still bases the curriculum on Investigations, these same children are stumbling when they go to Mattlin Middle School and are asked to learn more advanced mathematics.

Let’s look at the inverse side of this equation. From what Dr. Brooks and the people who attend Pasadena tell me, “The Principal and the teachers over there love TERC Investigations”. They think it is great. Yet Pasadena’s 4^th graders had horrible test scores. They finished 150 out of 182 Fourth grade classes in Nassau County. That’s not mediocre, that is deplorable. There is no demographic reason why these kids should finish so far below the other schools.  If teachers and a principal who are committed to teaching the program just as Dr Brooks asks can't get the kids to succeed, then it has to be the curriculum itself that is at fault. It’s not a coincidence and it’s the proof and evidence that you and Dr. Brooks are not willing to recognize. 

The parents of Plainview do not want mediocrity. While many of our children may be passing the NYS tests, far to few are exceeding these minimum standards. We don’t just want our kids to pass the NYS tests, we want them to attain the highest achievement levels. As I pointed out at the Feb. 12^th BOE meeting, these tests are not hard. They have been dumbed down considerably over the years. Lets face it, they are written so that all of NYS schools can pass them, including the inner cities schools, rural areas and less affluent areas throughout the state. We are not your average NY community. We are much more than that!  We want and expect and hope that our kids will excel in school and get into the best colleges. The simple truth is that for most of these schools that requires taking Calculus - either in High School or at the University of their choice. I understand that not all our children are on track for this, and we all have different needs. But how dare you take away these opportunities from our children who are capable of achieving these standards of excellence and beyond!!

I implore you to listen to your community. Listen to our teachers. Do not invest another dime in TERC Investigations or any other reform math program. Look at the mistakes over the past 5 years and correct them. We need traditional math textbooks for every grade level K-8. Most importantly, make it clear to the Superintendents office and the administrators of our district that mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. Either they do better or move on. No hard feelings, we just demand more from them than other communities. If they can’t deliver the education we deserve and pay for, then we have to start finding other people who can.  Lets start running our schools to be the best. Anything less is simply selling our children and our community short. We believe in our children and we put our money where our mouths are every year when we approve the school budget. It’s time to start delivering the education we are paying for.  

Lets all work together to bring our district back to where it belongs – as one of the best on Long Island!!

Sincerely,

Gary Bettan
Concerned Parent