Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Education rejected 54 math textbooks for next school year due to “attempts to indoctrinate students.”
The move sparked outrage from the left, who pretended as though these were just standard texts, but the Florida DOE has now released four examples of reasons for the bans — including a Critical Race Theory inspired “racial bias” graph.
According to a press release from the department, “41 percent of the submitted textbooks were impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history.”
“Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics. The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where an alarming 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies,” the press release continued. “Despite rejecting 41 percent of materials submitted, every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook.”
“It is unfortunate that several publishers, especially at the elementary school grade levels, have ignored this clear communication and have attempted to slip rebranded instructional materials based on Common Core Standards into Florida’s classrooms, while others have included prohibited and divisive concepts such as the tenants of CRT or other unsolicited strategies of indoctrination – despite FDOE’s prior notification,” the statement added.
“What? Me? Racist?” says a lesson titled “Adding and Subtracting Polynomials.”
“More than 2 million people have tested their racial prejudice using an online version of the Implicit Association Test. Most groups’ average scores fall between ‘slight’ and ‘moderate bias, but the differences among groups by age and political identification, are intriguing,” the problem states.
Another math book discussed student’s “social and emotional learning.”
Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said that his team plans to make sure Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials available.
“We’re going to ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally-recognized standards,” said Corcoran. “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis. When it comes to education, other states continue to follow Florida’s lead as we continue to reinforce parents’ rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education without the fear of indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms.”
