Immigrant math teacher critiques woke US education system in new memoir

A first-generation immigrant who left a career in finance to follow his passion for teaching has written a riveting new memoir about his experience navigating what he calls “awakening” in the American education system.

His new book under the pseudonym Yellow Heights, “Unbalanced: Memoirs of an Immigrant Math Teacher,” is part personal reflection and part critique of the leftist culture he says he encountered while studying at a university in the country. Top-ranked universities He then taught at a private high school.

Hites, who verified his identity and educational credentials with Fox News Digital, requested anonymity to discuss the book, which speaks candidly about his alma mater and former employer.

The bookwhich recently won a Maxi Award honoring independent and self-published titles, is available on Amazon, and excerpts are published for free on its Substack.

An immigrant mathematics teacher shares his experience with the “woke” education system in the United States in a new book. (iStock via Getty)

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“This book recounts his Kafkaesque experiences in education school, where he was labeled a white supremacist simply for asking questions.” Amazon listing Description states. “He shares first-hand accounts of teaching mathematics in a public and private school, offering a panoramic view of the issues surrounding bullying, coddling, and lack of accountability in education.”

Hites said he grew up in China in the 1970s in a poor town, where education was the only way to escape poverty. After earning a degree in engineering, he came to the United States on a scholarship to study climate science. He said he eventually built a successful career in the technology and financial industries before moving toward something he found more fulfilling: helping young people by teaching them his favorite subject — mathematics.

He enrolled in a one-year graduate teaching program in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic and national reckonings around race and equity dominated the educational landscape.

In his new memoir, a retired mathematics teacher says he learned that “math is political” in his teacher training program at a prestigious American university. (Photo illustration by Ian Jobson/Fox News Digital)

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Hites said that since the beginning of the program, his tasks and lessons have been focused Social justice Activity rather than learning and teaching mathematics.

He wrote about being targeted during a teacher training program for asking critical questions — including calling him a “white supremacist” and a “traitor” to people of color.

After giving a lecture on “disturbing expectations in science education,” Hites said he and another colleague asked skeptical questions about the lesson plan. The teacher later warned the class not to ask questions about the content, calling it a “very violent move” that promoted “white supremacy.”

Hites said he was stunned by the reaction and couldn’t help but understand that the new warning was directed at him and his colleague.

“This reminds me of exercising in The Cultural Revolution in China“It’s called a ‘Big Message Poster,'” Hites told Fox News Digital. “They basically started criticizing you publicly without naming, and that had a very powerful effect in silencing any point of view that was not considered politically correct.”

A retired teacher who grew up in China said the environment in his university classes reminded him of what his family experienced during China’s Cultural Revolution. (“Images from History” via Getty Images)

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“We are students,” he said. “We’re supposed to ask questions… This kind of tactic really killed my curiosity.”

After that incident, Hites said he avoided speaking. He added that this incident echoed other incidents he witnessed in the graduate program, where students were expected to read the “correct” ideological answer and not question it.

Hites also described being attacked in another class because of the defense Standardized testing.

Although he acknowledged that standardized tests have their drawbacks, he said they also provide an objective way to achieve success Students from poor or immigrant backgrounds To achieve success.

“Without something like standardized testing, I would have no chance of even escaping poverty in China,” he said, adding that although the tests are not perfect, they are valuable in providing an objective measure. “Instead of saying it’s really bad, you should scrap it — what I was saying is you should improve it.”

The teacher recalls being reprimanded for defending the merits of standardized testing in another class during his graduate program. (Media News Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

“I was spending the next 15 minutes defending myself,” he said. “People accused me of lacking empathy and even called me a ‘traitor’ to people of color.”

Reflecting on the experience, he wrote in his book: “I realized that my empathy for school administrators and my trust in objective measurements was the problem. The discussion turned a rational issue into a moral issue, as I failed to stand in solidarity with those deprived of standardized testing because of my lack of empathy for the vulnerable.”

He also pointed to another incident in the classroom the day after the death George Floyd. He said a progressive teacher was bullied by her classmates for her “lack of conscience” and broke down in tears after trying to continue the lesson after allowing a discussion about Floyd’s death.

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After graduating in 2021, Hites began teaching mathematics at a private high school. But the same politicized culture from the university soon emerged at his new school, which he said emphasized equality and fairness in its grading practices on learning outcomes and objective standards.

It is believed that such practices harm students and lead to poor results. “If you’re always comfortable, you’re not going to learn a lot at the end of the day,” he told Fox News Digital. “We need a certain amount of stress to learn.”

One such disagreement over a student led to a complaint being filed and Heights being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan. He said he also received a memo citing his “lack of empathy for students” and the need to be “more fair.”

“I was completely shocked,” he said, explaining that he had received positive feedback about his teaching before the incident at the end of the semester.

In the end, he decided to resign because he was exhausted and no longer trusted the management.

“It was the last straw,” he said. “I decided to take a break, and it is difficult to continue in this kind of environment.”

Hites said he has continued to teach math part-time, though health challenges may prevent him from returning to a full classroom role in the future.

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He said Maxey’s award recognition was a “huge validation” as a non-native English speaker who struggles with writing. He said he was encouraged by the positive feedback from parents, teachers and immigrants who have faced similar challenges in the American education system.

Hites said he hopes his book encourages readers to think critically about how ideology and identity politics are shaped in American classrooms — though he thinks things could get better.

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“I know it’s very hard to change something,” he said. “But it starts small, as people know more and feel they can discuss it freely.”

“I think schools are actually changing a little bit for the better,” he added. “People realize that pampering and low demands have led to undesirable outcomes.”