For more than seventy years, America has been locked in what educators call “the math wars.” In the 1950s and 60s, the New Math movement chased abstraction over arithmetic. The 1970s swung back to Back to Basics, emphasizing drills and memorization but often losing the joy of discovery. Then came the NCTM Standards of the 1980s and 90s, which sought to make math “real-world” and inclusive, but too often replaced mastery with methods. Finally, in the 2010s, the Common Core promised balance—but in practice, it left many parents and teachers frustrated, and student proficiency has continued to fall nationwide.

Throughout these cycles, one thing has remained clear: children thrive when they are taught math with clarity, structure, and purpose—when they know both how and why math works.

That is why Freedom in Education, in partnership with the National Association of Scholars, has developed the Archimedes Math Standards—a complete PreK–12 framework built on content-rich rigor, procedural fluency, and timeless truth. The Archimedes Standards restore common sense to the classroom by clearly defining what every child should learn at each stage—without political distractions, jargon, or endless experimentation.

Our vision is simple: to give every child in America a solid foundation in mathematical fluency and knowledge that leads to higher levels of proficiency, confidence, and curiosity. The Archimedes Standards are lucid, practical, and easy for teachers to use—and equally easy for parents to understand. They emphasize mastery of the standard algorithms, mental math, and problem-solving grounded in logic and truth. These are the same skills that built America’s engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs—and they are once again within reach for your children.

The spirit of Archimedes reminds us that mathematics is not just about numbers; it is about seeing order and beauty in the world around us. When students grasp math in this way, they don’t just learn to calculate—they learn to think.

Together, we can end the math wars by returning to what works: clear standards, rigorous content, and a shared belief in every child’s capacity to learn and excel.

Restoring real math education isn’t just about raising scores—it’s about raising a generation capable of securing America’s future and safeguarding its freedom.

Sincerely,

Melissa Jackson