Sure. But this is all supposition dressed up to sound convincing. Here's some of my own, hopefully somewhat convincing as well:<p>Why can't our girls learn math? Because they are surrounded by a society where math is frightening black magic, a society which largely looks down upon anyone who is good at math, and particularly so those who specialize in it. This is emphasized for girls; the linked article provided evidence that their math abilities declined in proportion to the amount in which their teacher reflected those societal pressures.<p>Why do their teachers have math anxiety? See above.<p>Why are their teachers incompetent at math? See above. Also, <i>their</i> teachers were incompetent at math. (See the exact same referenced article.)<p>Why do schools hire teachers incompetent at math? Most of all, because math is not valued. But also: Because there aren't enough teachers available to only hire perfect ones. Because the ways of measuring "good at math" are quite brittle, let alone measurements for "good at <i>teaching</i> math."<p>----<p>In other words, you have your axe to grind (unions) and I have mine (a thoroughly anti-intellectual culture); personally I find mine rather more convincing. Neither was really directly brought up by the article.<p>[Also, my axe doesn't conveniently align with over-repeated, loudly shouted political talking points, which is nice. ;) ]