Previously we explained how capitalist math education trains us for the capitalist workplace and reinforces the idea that a few bosses should take charge of our lives.

But everything changes. The deep crisis of global capitalism today, with its increasing push toward world war, means more rapid change. That includes math education.

The rulers see that their schools aren't training us and our kids to meet THEIR changed needs. So they are experimenting with reforms, none of them intended to meet the needs of OUR class.

P-TECH:  Direct Corporate Control

"Countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges, so that they're ready for a job," said President Obama in his State of the Union speech.  "At schools like P-TECH in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools, the City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering."

In these P-TECH schools, the corporate "partner" designs the curriculum to guarantee that graduates are ready for a job in its company.  "We need to give every American student opportunities like this," Obama declared.

Sure — opportunities to be trained as wage-slaves!

In communist society, education will be even more closely linked with work, but not under conditions of capitalist exploitation. Young people will work alongside more experienced adults who are deciding the "what" and "why" and "how" of production, not just obeying orders.

Beyond the basics of numeracy and logical reasoning, which all children will grasp in age-appropriate ways, youth will learn math as they need it.

All will have the opportunity to learn, as well, the beautiful and powerful general structures and applications of mathematics. Classes and study groups will be organized in workplaces and communities, as age-diverse groups decide to learn something new.

We will all give leadership in areas where we have knowledge and skills. But nobody will be a "teacher" full-time for their whole working life.

Common Core Curriculum and Imperialist Competition

This month, millions of US students are guinea-pigs in two new tests aligned with the "Common Core" curriculum. These tests will eventually be used to "assess" both teachers and students. The college-admissions SAT and ACT tests are also changing to orient with Common Core.

Common Core math standards claim to have students "practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges."  But who defines those issues?  The capitalists!  

"The standards are benchmarked to international standards to guarantee that our students are competitive in the emerging global marketplace.

"This will ensure that we maintain America's competitive edge." (www.corestandards.org)

"Businesses all across the country depend on a highly qualified workforce prepared for jobs in the 21st century," echoed the US Chamber of Commerce, calling the Common Core standards "essential to helping the United States remain competitive."

So education reform in the US and allied countries is really about imperialist competition for profits, and preparation for a worldwide shooting war when trade wars reach their limits.

Liberal Democrats and teachers' unions once supported Common Core, an Obama-endorsed initiative tied to his "Race to the Top."  Now they complain about "too many problems that need to be fixed."

But the problems are built into the institution of capitalist schooling.

Children are processed in same-age batches, even though we develop unevenly. Top-down capitalist society makes "testing" the heart of schooling.

Teachers aren't given the time or resources to assess individual children's strengths and weaknesses, nor to figure out how best to meet their needs. Certainly, children and youth aren't asked what they want to know or whether they're satisfied with how well they know it.

The new tests supposedly assess "critical thinking," but capitalist state agencies still decide what kids should know and how to prove they know it. For example, high-schoolers might have to write a memo for a Congressman. They'll never be asked to calculate the rate of exploitation of a garment or aerospace worker!

Communism understands that social practice is the test of knowledge as well as truth. The standard is what meets the needs of our class, and of each individual. We must all learn to evaluate our work and learning, and that of our comrades, using honest and frank criticism and self-criticism. We do this today in the process of mobilizing the masses for communism.