Today, the Florida Department of Education revealed that out of 132 newly submitted textbooks for review, 54 have been turned down for supposedly endorsing topics prohibited in the state’s schools. This includes references to common core concepts, banned in 2020, and critical race theory, banned in 2021. Most of the rejected materials were designed for students from kindergarten to fifth grade, yet the specific titles of the rejected books and the exact reasons for their rejection have not been made public.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis commented, “It appears that some publishers tried to update outdated content based on Common Core principles and introduced controversial concepts like race essentialism, particularly, in an unusual manner, for young students.”
Various Florida legislators have criticized this rejection, urging for transparency regarding the objectionable content in the books.
Florida officials have blocked 54 math textbooks from its K-12 curriculum, alleging that some of them discuss “critical race theory.”
The rejected titles account for a record 41% of the books submitted for review.https://t.co/d3t5V6Jo3T
— NPR (@NPR) April 18, 2022
Florida House Representative Carlos Smith tweeted, “@EducationFL just announced they’re banning dozens of math textbooks they claim ‘indoctrinate’ students with CRT. They won’t tell us what they are or what they say b/c it’s a lie. #DeSantis has turned our classrooms into political battlefields and this is just the beginning.”
Florida State House Member Anna Eskamani tweeted, “I get it. The aim of math is to tackle issues which the Republican Party of Florida doesn’t prefer to address.”
