This move by the Florida governor is deceptive and cowardly. In insisting that they want to teach accurate history, they are actually wiping away the most recent reality of American political and social movements. The hypocrisy will not go unchallenged in the face of truth, justice, and what is real; and what their children will eventually learn is the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conservatives in Florida, led by DeSantis, have ramped up criticism about what students are reading and learning in school, particularly surrounding race, gender, and sexual orientation through legislation and rulemaking alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida\u2019s Department of Education as of Tuesday approved dozens of social studies textbooks for use in local schools after initially rejecting many over content the DeSantis administration found objectionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Publishers in many cases tweaked the content in their books after an initial review from the state, according to the state\u2019s education agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State education officials flagged several potential textbooks for \u201cpolitical indoctrination,\u201d including one lesson urging parents to speak with their children about kneeling during the National Anthem as a symbol representing America. Publishers also amended some of the books at Florida\u2019s urging, such as removing a reference to the police killing of George Floyd in a middle school book, as Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to fight against \u201cwokeness\u201d in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available \u2014 materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric,\u201d Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The textbook adoption process for social studies was expected to face intense scrutiny in Florida following the state education agency\u00a0denying dozens of proposed math textbooks<\/a>\u00a0last year for containing \u201cimpermissible\u201d content, including lessons on critical race theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conservatives in Florida, led by DeSantis, have ramped up criticism about what students are reading and learning in school, particularly surrounding race, gender, and sexual orientation through legislation and rulemaking alike. The Republican-dominated Legislature during its 2023 session passed a bill tightening rules for local book objections by requiring schools to yank challenged works within five days of someone flagging it, a shift opponents equate to \u201cbook banning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state is also engaged in a high-profile dispute with the nonprofit College Board after state education department officials rejected its African American studies AP program for initially including coursework on queer theory and intersectionality. The objections angered many Black leaders across the country, with some accusing DeSantis of stoking a cultural fight to boost his presidential aspirations, as the course remains in limbo today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Florida as of Tuesday accepted 66 of 101 social studies books submitted by publishers for use in the state, according to the Department of Education. Even with 35 books still pending approval, this marks a major jump from last month when the state initially rejected 81 books for various reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agency on Tuesday cited several examples<\/a> of publishers modifying books after the state flagged them, such as an \u201cinaccurate description of socialism\u201d in one middle school book that claimed the political philosophy \u201ckeeps things nice and even and without necessary waste\u201d and \u201cmay promote greater equality among people while still providing a fully functioning government-supervised economy.\u201d The publisher stripped that language in a change to the textbook posted by the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DeSantis administration also spurred one publisher to remove a section in a middle school textbook about \u201cNew Calls for Social Justice,\u201d which mentioned the Black Lives Matter movement and Floyd police killing in 2020. This piece of text detailed that \u201cwhile many American sympathized\u201d with Black Lives Matters, \u201cothers charged that the movement was anti-police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/05\/09\/florida-k-12-textbook-publisher-00096000<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Florida determined this content broached \u201cunsolicited topics,\u201d yet critics pan the state\u2019s decision to reject it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook at the revisions they are celebrating & ask yourself if you trust [Florida] to write our history,\u201d the Florida Freedom to Read Project, an organization that monitors local book challenges, wrote in a tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DeSantis officials, meanwhile, credited the Florida Department of Education for pushing publishers to rethink their proposals to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n