Math wars!

We've got a report back on the math curriculum. Monfredo heads this up, and, if I'm understanding him correctly, he has his doubts about the current curriculum (kids need to know whole numbers before they start fractions; kids need to memorize their facts).
He says he's uncomfortable with simply filing this item.
He wants the new accountability officer to look at what we are doing, what works, what doesn't.
(He comments that he used to ask math facts of the kids as he went down the hallway. I just had a flashback to second grade.)
Kids should know the order of operations, and, again, "basic facts."
O'Connell reminds us that there was a middle and high school committee, to look at the fourth year of math in high school, to look at the curriculum..they'd asked that they use the Saxon math program in middle school....suggests they also look at elementary math.
Biancheria says it's across Massachusetts, it's not just here.

Aha! Mulqueen mentions the Common Core standards "sets a new stage for us" he says.
"algebra-ready for eighth grade"...have to backtrack that to kindergarten and project that forward into high school and college
He suggests we need periodic curriculum review as a matter of course.
He says that "by the spring, we should have a pacing guide" on reviewing each curriculum area.