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she was making the cultural studies and english teachers look bad because they were tired of defending their material to nosey parents.

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!"

Shows that the teacher doesn't really want to bother to teach the kids math. IMO, a calculator isn't necessary at all until college. Of course, now one is required for AP Calculus and Statistics. But at least only on part of the test and is used to test the students' interpretation of the calculator's results.

To back you up - I was teaching Advanced Math and full half the kids in there couldn't add fractions without their beloved calculators! They had gotten so dependent on them, they couldn't do even elementary school math without them. I banned calculators from the classroom after that and made them learn to do math first with only their brains and a pencil - some were as upset as if I took away their security blankets!

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.

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.