It’s the columnist’s job to be clever, to present old topics in new lights and explore news in a way others might not, as a means of informing and elevating the discourse.
Sometimes, the sources take care of the heavy lifting.
Consider this quote Peter Hancock used in his Capitol News Illinois story on the State Board of Education’s adoption of a new Comprehensive Numeracy Plan. The board took the formal action Wednesday, and member Donna Leak was on point:
“One of the things that I always have struggled with is people say, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t do math. I’m not a math person.’ Nobody ever says, ‘I don’t read,’ right? So how do we take away that stigma of mathematics being something that is unattainable for everyone?”
Comparing the two is apt because the numeracy effort is a direct result of ISBE’s excitement over the literacy plan it approved in 2024. State Superintendent Tony Sanders noted the earlier effort was a response to a handful of legislative proposals to improve reading and writing, prompting education leaders to be more proactive regarding arithmetic.
In April 2025, a statewide needs assessment survey began the process. Then, in June, a daylong Numeracy Summit yielded a 182-page report with the operating theme that numeracy (defined as applying math to real-world contexts) comes from fluency (the computation and manipulation of numbers). ISBE then conducted seven in-person and one online listening session.
Kirsten Parr, ISBE standards and instruction director, said the final plan is built on input from thousands of people. I encouraged readers to either attend listening sessions or at least contact local school board members to encourage them to communicate about the process at public meetings, all as a reminder that there are way more options than the occasional vote for everyday residents to help influence government operations.
But Leak’s quote helps remind us that although public schools are very much a function of government, the work of academic growth happens in and outside those walls and often with the influence of factors – tangible and otherwise – that teachers and administrators can never control.
I’m very much guilty of identifying as “not a math person” or, as written in September, an “English major who can’t help his sons with their math homework once they reach middle school.” Leak is correct; no one jokes about illiteracy. Typically, adults who struggle with reading try hard to mask the situation.
Some might think it’s amusing to not understand calculus, but obviously, it’s vital to grasp math concepts and their use in daily life. It’s great to have nice test scores, but we also have to prepare students for adulthood.
Here’s hoping the numeracy effort lives up to its billing.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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June 16, 2026 at 10:04AM
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