Following last week's presentation to the Fayette County Board of Education, a few thoughts come to mind as I attempt to process this latest sequence of events. The full text of the presentation may be viewed on the Concerned Parents for a Better Fayette Education web site at: http://www.accessatlanta.com/community/ groups/cpbfe/. Please direct any comments or criticisms to: tdrptc@bellsouth.net.

First, I cannot help but note that, with only one exception, each person who spoke up in favor of Chicago math [at the Sept. 21 meeting] was a teacher, several of whom were pilot teachers for the Chicago program. The one exception was a student, LeeAnn Browning, who is the daughter of a teacher here, though this was not disclosed in her comments. What I find most notable about her comments, and a fact that none of the newspapers quoted, was her statement that she "enjoyed teaching herself."

Herein lies the problem at the middle and high school level. Many students are not able to "teach" themselves higher level mathematics. I have asked myself many times, "why send the children to school at all if they are going to be expected to teach themselves?" I think this question has been answered by many parents already in this county who are now home schooling or have opted for area private schools.

Nearly all of the letters sent to the newspapers in support of Chicago math have been from teachers, too. Some have disclosed their role, and others have portrayed themselves simply as parents, failing to inform the reader of their employment with the BOE. Remember that only a few teachers have publicly endorsed this program. There are many teachers in this county who would like to see a more balanced approach to math instruction. At a minimum, we are probably talking about a fifty-fifty split. Some insiders estimate that 60 percent of teachers in Fayette County are opposed to the Chicago program.

Secondly, the Board's tone, again with one exception, Woody Shelnutt, was clear. Parents are not viewed as eligible players in the curriculum arena in this county.

We appreciate the Board Chairman's open-mindedness and willingness to fully endorse the Math Task Force goal of surveying parents and teachers. The rest of the Board was less approachable. Rather than address the valid points that were made about parents' concerns with Chicago math, the Board questioned my experience in math, how long my child has been a student here, and whether or not I had walked my concerns through the "chain of command."

The message was clear. Unless you have lived here a long time, have a Ph.D. in the subject area you are addressing, and have followed exact procedure for making a complaint, your comments as a parent are suspect at best, and only perfunctorily tolerated.

Because I believed the math situation to be a program problem and knew that the teacher would not be able to change the program, and because I had already spoken with many parents who had gone through the process only to be rebuffed, I made a beeline to research this issue myself. I have since acknowledged to our principal (last spring and again last week) that I should have spoken with the teacher first, and assured her that in the event that I became concerned in the future, I would follow Board procedure. All of this seems just a technicality now that the Chicago math "cat" is out of the bag.

I think it is certainly worth noting that some very recognizable improvements have already been made in math instruction in this county. Supplementation to the program has increased. There is recognition of parent concerns by teachers and administrators. The instructional office is presently working on ways to improve instruction in the classrooms that remain self-taught. Participants on the Math Task Force are actively seeking to produce surveys for all parents and teachers in hopes of gaining an accurate assessment of public sentiment on the math issue. We are making progress in math instruction, and thus this whole process is justified.

One member of the Concerned Parents group last week conveyed an interesting quote from Thomas Sowell, a noted syndicated columnist. Sowell writes that, "Parents who want to debate the merits and demerits of various programs using their children as guinea pigs in the schools miss the point entirely. The real question is 'Whose children are these?'"

This is so true. As parents we can research and document every claim we make in challenging questionable academic programs, but the greatest claim we can make is that these are our children and our schools.

Parents, do your homework, then follow the procedure for raising concerns, i.e., teacher, department chair, principal, director, asst. superintendent, superintendent, then Board of Education (Board Policy KNBA). Know that it is perfectly okay to voice your concerns and see them addressed all the way to the Board. Use the tools that modern technology affords you. This is the Information Age, and the information is out there literally at your fingertips.

Parents in the mainstream have the ability now to tap into research, university education schools and curricula, and in many cases go right to the source of the program in question in this case, right to the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project developers. Access to these materials used to be limited to either professional educators, students at universities or the few parents diligent enough to spend days in a university library thumbing through journal articles. Ironically, it is this kind of technology that new math enthusiasts want our children to embrace.

The public school system welcomes parent participation in fund-raising, school beautification, and the mentoring and tutoring of students. In this modern age, in order for the public school system to survive, they must open the door to parent participation in curricula issues as well. Parents usually represent the voice of common sense. Parents always represent the voice of their children. Let us actively seek to close the gap between parents and administrators on curricula issues. Let each of us remember that we all seek to represent the best interests of the children in this county and in the nation.

David Gelernter, professor of computer science at Yale University and author of "Drawing Life" is the new Thursday columnist for the New York Post. He wrote this past week, "The yawning chasm between ed-school doctrine and common sense has already swallowed up (to our nation's shame) a whole generation of American kids." Let us bridge this chasm in the Fayette school system before it swallows any more.