NCSM is firmly committed to mathematics education through the lens of social justice. Our NCSM vision and actions are designed to ensure all students engage in equitable, high-quality mathematical learning experiences that lead to powerful and flexible uses of mathematical understanding. We lead with a social justice stance, which questions and challenges the roles power, privilege, and oppression play in the current and often unjust system of mathematics education—and reflected in society as a whole. And yet, our 2021 Annual Meeting is scheduled September 20-22 in Atlanta, Georgia.
We do not support any actions that create inequities and impact our students and the members of their communities such as the recent changes in the Georgia election law and the impact those changes will have on all Georgians, particularly Black residents. We have chosen to keep our annual conference in Atlanta and stand with people of Georgia who are actively challenging this legislation. We feel that our collective voices can have more impact when they are physically present in Georgia.
Moreover, we do not want our actions to undermine the very people who have been unjustly targeted by this legislation. We will honor our financial commitments to the hotel and services industry in Atlanta and support the hospitality industry and employees. We will honor social justice issues in the context of our Annual Meeting.
We realize that mathematics can be a powerful tool for addressing social justice issues. For the past year, we’ve been working diligently to plan this conference with an eye toward COVID and keeping our members and attendees safe while honoring our commitment to providing high-quality and meaningful professional learning for all. We now have an opportunity to promote our social justice platform and what it means to use mathematics to critique the world. The theme of our conference is “Aspire. Activate. Act. Amplify Bold Mathematics Leadership”. We have strands specific to becoming change agents and activating leadership for access and equity.
There is no better place for NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education to demonstrate our vision for global social justice than in Atlanta, where these issues can be heard, felt, and are real. We hope you will join us in Atlanta.
On Behalf of the NCSM Board and NCSM as an organization,
Mona Toncheff, President (2019-2021)
Paul Gray, President-Elect (2020-2021)
