Since the publication in 1989 of the Curriculumand Evaluation Standards by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], there has been a steady increase in discussion and debate about reforming mathematics education in the U.S., including increased attention from university mathematicians (cf. [Ho]). Many mathematicians who take time to consider precollege education form an intuition that it would help the situation if teachers knew more mathematics.
If these mathematicians get more involved in mathematics education, they are likely to be surprised by how little this intuition seems to affect the agenda in mathematics education reform.