Apparently, some bureaucrats running public education as certain
jurisdiction wants to emphasive teaching ideology over math. Here is an
excerpt from a newspaper article.

http://www2.townonline.com/newton/opinion/view.bg?articleid=161257

The only logical and remaining explanation is change that occurred in
the Newton math curriculum itself - the subject matter of what is
taught and how, what is emphasized and what is not, what has been
omitted and what is new. In short, what has changed in the elementary
and middle school math curriculum to have affected such a dramatic
decline in the MCAS scores? Answer: the new math curriculum, otherwise
known as anti-racist multicultural math. Between 1999 and 2001, under
the direction of Superintendent Young and Assistant Superintendent
Wyatt, the math curriculum was redesigned to emphasize "Newton's
commitment to active anti-racist education" for the elementary and
middle schools. This meant that no longer were division,
multiplication, fractions and decimals the first priority for teaching
math. For that matter, the teaching of math was no longer the first
priority for math teachers, as indicated by the new curriculum
guidelines, called benchmarks, which function as the primary
instructional guide for teaching math in the Newton Public Schools.