When it comes to mathematics abilities, students in the United States lag far behind their peers in many places around the globe.

The most recent Program for International Student Assessment — an exam administered to 15-year-olds every three years in 72 countries — shows that U.S. teens ranked a paltry 27 out of 72. (In 2015, the most current year for which there are PISA exam results, some 540,000 students sat for the assessment.)

Interestingly, the teaching curriculum of one particular professor in the Midwest might shed a little light on why American students are simply not measuring up in math.

Eric “Rico” Gutstein, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is encouraging his colleagues to teach “math for social justice” — in order to help fight the “oppressive status quo,” according to Campus Reform.

So activism in the classroom appears to be more important than students’ understanding of key subjects like geometry, algebra, and even precalculus.

And if anyone has any doubts about this professor’s political leanings, he says the time is right for social justice math now, considering the “racist and sexist billionaire in the White House.”

Gutstein, who holds a Ph.D. in computer sciences, is the author of a chapter titled “The Struggle Is Pedagogical: Learning to Teach Critical Mathematics,” which appears in the new textbook “The Philosophy of Mathematics Today,” published by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Not to be confused with the private University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a public university — so it’s funded by taxpayers who, in all likelihood, don’t realize how their tax dollars are being spent.

Gutstein teaches aspiring educators — and offers a clue or two.

“My research and teaching interests include mathematics education, teaching for social justice and critical literacy in an urban, multicultural context, Freirean approaches to teaching/learning, and Chicago school policy,” he wrote in his professional bio on the UIC website. (Freirean approaches stress the learners’ cultural and personal experiences.)

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“In my work, I argue that K-12 students need to be prepared through their mathematics education to investigate and critique injustice (such as racism and language discrimination), and to challenge, in words and actions, oppressive structures and acts. I prepare teachers who can teach mathematics and other subjects in this manner to students in urban settings.”

Hmmm.

One wonders if Gutstein has ever critiqued the fact that most U.S. cities facing urban decay today are run by politicians with socialist predilections — who, like himself, perpetuate a mentality of victimhood.

Related: Educator Believes ‘Teaching Is Political’ — and Is Leading This Walkout

Or, why math scores of American youth are so abysmal.

He also says this: “What we do in the classroom matters, for today and tomorrow, and the myriad possibilities for resistance and transformation are inextricably and dialectically related to the intensity of the crises we face.”

LifeZette reached out to Gutstein for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

Elizabeth Economou is a former CNBC staff writer and adjunct professor. Follow her on Twitter.