The Florida Department of Education is rejecting textbooks it says were “impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history.”
According to the department, the reasons behind the rejection include “Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.”
The department noted the largest number of books were rejected for grades K-5, claiming 71% “were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.”
Florida will overall not be including 54 of the 132 (41%) submitted textbooks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in a statement, “It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students.”
He added, “I’m grateful that Commissioner Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law.”
Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran explained the department is going to “ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally-recognized standards.”
He continued, “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.”
The governor previously spoke out against Critical Race Theory.
“Florida’s education system exists to create opportunity for our children. Critical Race Theory teaches kids to hate our country and to hate each other,” DeSantis tweeted in June 2021.
Florida’s education system exists to create opportunity for our children. Critical Race Theory teaches kids to hate our country and to hate each other. It is state-sanctioned racism and has no place in Florida schools. pic.twitter.com/ludv7ARgNP
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 10, 2021
He called it “state-sanctioned racism,” arguing, it “has no place in Florida schools.”
The state proceeded to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools.