| New nationwide math book found to have commercialism | ||||
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Another line has been crossed by advertisers intent on commercializing our public schools. A middle school librarian in Albany, CA called the Center in December to report a new 6th-grade math textbook that includes blatant commercial images. Story problems in the textbook, Mathematics: Applications and Connections (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill), have students determine what fraction of pieces in a bag of M&Ms are brown, and how many weeks allowance they would need to save to buy a pair of Nike shoes. Just as shocking is the fact that Mathematics: Applications and Connections has been added to Californias list of official ly approved textbooks. Advertising in the textbook now has the official endorsement of the state. In the past, no matter how much commercialism we saw in corporate-sponsored educational curriculums, we could at least say that officially-approved textbooks were advertisement-free, said Andrew Hagelshaw, Senior Program Director at the Center. We cant say that any longer. Center research uncovered that the textbooks are used by at least one school district in every state of the country. The publisher proudly describes the commercialism as real world applications. Apparently these real world situations include measuring the diameter of an Oreo cookie and comparing the caloric differences between Big Macs and Quarter Pounders with Cheese. It is also important to note that the math problems come with real world corporate logos! What you can do: Call your school board office to find out whether the books are used in your district. If they are, make an official com-plaint, raise the issue at a meeting, and let other parents in your community know! Join the Centers School Watch Team and conduct a commercialism walk-through of a school in your district. Call 1- 800-UNPLUG-1 for more information. If you live in California, call to support AB116, a measure that intends to stop state-approved textbook advertising. If passed, AB116 will set a precedent for the entire country to follow. (See article on Page 2 for more information.) |
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