Florida has rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and requested publishers to edit dozens more, as announced by the state’s Department of Education this week, in the latest effort by Governor Ron DeSantis to censor textbooks that particularly cover contemporary issues of race and social justice.
State officials initially rejected 82 of the 101 submitted books due to what they considered “inaccurate material, errors, and other information that was not aligned with Florida law,” the Department of Education said in a press release.
However, as part of a broad effort to review the books, Florida worked with publishers to make changes, approving 66 of the 101 textbooks. Still, 35 were rejected even after this process.
DeSantis, who intends to run for president in next year’s elections, has campaigned against what he described as “woke indoctrination” and “a leftist agenda in the classroom.” Last year, the state rejected dozens of math textbooks, saying that the books addressed prohibited topics, including critical race theory and social-emotional learning.
The revisions outlined by the state include:
• An elementary school textbook no longer includes “home support” guidance on how to talk about the national anthem, which included advice that parents could “use this as an opportunity to talk about why some citizens are choosing to ‘kneel’ to protest police brutality and racism.” Florida officials said the content was not age-appropriate.
• A text on different types of economies was edited to remove a description of socialism as maintaining “good and balanced things” and potentially promoting greater equality. The description was flagged as inaccurate, and the mention of the term “socialism” was completely removed.
• A high school textbook no longer includes a passage about the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of George Floyd, and its impact on society. The removed passage described the protests, noting that “many Americans sympathized with the Black Lives Matter movement,” while others criticized looting and violence and viewed the movement as anti-police. The state said the passage contained “unsolicited topics.”
Source: The New York Times