The best way to reduce math knowledge inequality is to actually teach math

[meep]

Just looking at this recent post from Legal Insurrection:

California Board of Education Puts Pause on Proposed Calculus-Free Math Curriculum

In early May, we reported that the California Board of Education was proposing to eliminate calculus and revise its mathematics curriculum to make it more…equitable

Comments

[collingwest]

I always wonder if the folks who come up with these proposals think that the math we learn today is solely the result of European mathematicians. The Arabs would have something to say about the very numerals we use....

[meep]

When I see some of these proposals, it's obvious they're coming from people who are deeply ignorant not only about doing math itself, but the history of math.

When I have looked at the history of math (pushing back to ancient Egypt & China), one does realize it is possible for a culture to lose math knowledge. The saddest result I saw was the break in Western Europe, after the fall of Rome. I remember reading materials where monks had tried to reconstruct math knowledge, and it was not only pitiful in its thin volume, but also often plain wrong. It took centuries to build up to just where Ptolemy (the mathematician) & Archimedes had been, again. I don't think people understand that progress isn't certain - knowledge can be lost if not properly passed on.