In 2004, Newton Public Schools commissioned a study of the mathematics curriculum.  Over 3000 people paticipated in surveys and focus groups.  An external educational consulting organization was paid to conduct the study.

Detailed results are attached here thanks to the hard work and diligence of a parent and community activist who had to escalate to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office twice before being given access to this public information.

Data in this survey leads to the conclusion that at least 25% of students in our schools are receiving outside paid tutoring in math.  This data has been minimized or dismissed in several forums as being unscientific due to some subgroup sample sizes being too small although statistically the margins of error involved are actually pretty small.  Interestingly, some of the same people minimizing the data were part of the School Committee that commisioned, accepted and paid for the study!

The raw data is presented here for your own analysis.