1 + 1 = ?

So, Thursday was the South Cook County Math Bowl. And my son is a "mathlete." He was one of two 1st graders representing his school district. My daughter was an "alternate mathlete." If, say, one of the 4th graders from her district had been run over by a bus or was suddenly stricken by the plague, she would have moved up to "mathlete" status. That didn't happen. Dangit.

We gave our son the, "We're proud of you just for being selected" speech, figuring that he'd lose. Gotta be prepared, right? He lost. Yay, preparedness.

The three school districts that swept the Bowl were all in White suburbs. I had to ask myself: Are the White kids smarter? and What are they teaching their kids that our kids aren't learning? My two darlings are both at the head of their classes, and they both participate in all the gifted programs. But apparently, "gifted" is the norm in the White school districts. What we see as a special program is the everyday program for them. That sucks. So a better question to ask is this: Why aren't our kids being pushed more?

It is my theory that just because you call a curriculum "4th Grade Math," that doesn't mean diddly to the kids. They're going to either keep up or they won't. Give them a 5th grade math curriculum and those same kids are either going to keep up or they won't. But you've got to keep pushing them. I'm completely convinced that those little White kids in the more affluent school districts have a higher grade level curriculum than the little Colored children in our district. I'm also completely convinced that those kids aren't necessarily smarter just because they're White. They aren't smarter. It just looks that way because the grown-ups running their schools ARE smarter. They're pushing the kids and teaching them beyond what our kids are learning and they sweep the Math Bowl and the Spelling Bee and the Life Bowl. They're better prepared for high school and college and life. (Thus, the Life Bowl.) Fuck this No Child Left Behind crap! All of our kids are behind. And I don't believe it's because their districts have more money to spend. It's a matter of what you choose to spend the budget on and how much credit you give the kids for what they can handle. And what you expect of them. Expect more! Push farther! Or move to a White neighborhood.

- Inda