https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math No matter where you are, sometimes we want to try something new, sometimes things

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math No matter where you are, sometimes we want to try something new, sometimes things have to change, and sometimes it doesn't work or there are growing pains. The other side of the coin is that states and local governments aren't that much better equipped to set education standards. That's how you get things like trying to teach bronze age mythologies as science and a bunch of feel good proclamations about how "we know how best to teach our kids and that's why we should be running the show". No system is perfect, but having some centralized standards gives you something to shoot for and gives people from other regions the ability to have some expectations about what students (should) have learned.