"Margaret Wente... provokes heated debate.." 

So we know that this is just meant to be challenging. And it barely does even that.

This piece only serves to cause ire, which, we should all have noted, is in no short supply these days. Being an intentional provocateur, and over such a non-debate, is truly counter-productive. My kids are in school- so far, nothing alarming is happening to the maths curriculum. And you should see the joy on my 9-yr old's face,  just back from his first morning of Unity game-coding camp. He made a simple "marble drop" sequence, and seems all the better for it. (In fact, the course included a physics lesson to instruct them in varying weights and objects interacting- so there's the math right there!)

[And let us not even mention the proven value for our brain health of learning another language. Or the value of learning how to apply logic and think critically.]

This kind of  article is why I canceled my subscription, dear Globe and Mail.