Interesting. Somewhat related -- I was at an open forum on our local public schools, and a teacher explained that student began using calculators in third grade.
I stood up and explained that I thought this was not good, and that mastering basic math facts was essential, and that a calculator was going to undermine that. The teacher smiled and shook her head and said that I didn't understand the math curriculum.
So, another person stood up and agreed with me and said that calculators were a crutch and she opposed them. The teacher indulgently shook her head and said that this view was not commonly accepted.
A third person stood up and requested that the school re-examine it's policy on calculator use in the lower grades. The teacher threw up her hands and said "Look, we've beaten this calculator thing to death -- we need to move on!"
This is how they're trained. They're supposed to tell the parent that he's the only one objecting. No one told this teacher that this method only works in one-on-one situations.