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The path to social justice requires reimagining math education. Math is often seen as a neutral filter for academic advancement, when in reality it functions as a gatekeeper that reinforces existing inequities. In a blog for EdTrust, Just Equations executive director Pamela Burdman highlights how traditional course pathways, biased placement policies, and narrow definitions of math success limit access for students, especially those from historically marginalized communities. She argues that math education must be reimagined to serve as a gateway to opportunity, because without equitable access to rigorous math and data skills, students are blocked from fully engaging with the social, economic, and civic issues that shape our world.
While justice involves values, it also entails measurement. Whether the topic is college access, COVID deaths, policing, food insecurity, or the gender pay gap, math — including statistics — is key to understanding social outcomes. Our values guide us in interpreting specific disparities in death rates, arrest rates, or pay levels. Math tells us what those rates, levels, and disparities are. If we need mathematics to evaluate social conditions, then a mathematically proficient population is key to ensuring social justice.
Seen this way, depriving students of rigorous mathematical preparation not only limits their educational and career opportunities but also constitutes a form of disenfranchisement as it interferes with their ability to exercise their political rights.
Both algebra and statistics are fundamental to students’ ability to understand and critique the world. And both can be taught in ways that are relevant to social justice. A book for teachers from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics includes algebra lessons on topics such as climate change, income inequality, and living wages. Statistics lessons include an exercise about the 2020 Census, an examination of test scores by zip code, and an analysis of racial justice in policing.
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