BECAUSE for over 50 years the Federal and State Departments of Education have failed to influence changes in teaching methods and strategies to address the steadily declining test scores identified by A Nation at Risk, ACT tests, and a variety of other testing tools, and

BECAUSE for over 50 years the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics continued to advocate the implementation of teaching methods and strategies which resulted in those declining test scores, and

BECAUSE the negligence perpetrated by the Federal and State Departments of Education, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and other responsible agencies represents a dereliction of duty and a blatant disregard for the taxpayers’ expectation that school children receive a quality education, and

BECAUSE it is the responsibility of the people to protect each child’s right to a quality education,

THEREFORE math instruction must include memorization of basic math facts, formulas, theorems, rules and standard methods of computation, and

THEREFORE each student’s mastery of math skills and formulas appropriate for his grade level be assessed through yearly testing.