54 Math Books Rejected In Latest DeSantis Attack On Education

Miami FL

21 April, 2022

3:31 PM

Description

A Miami Times Staff Report, the Miami Times Apr 19, 2022 School districts are scrambling after the Florida Department of Education has rejected more than four dozen math textbooks after claiming publishers were trying to "indoctrinate students." In a statement Friday, the DOE said 54 of 132 submitted textbooks, about 41%, were rejected for not conforming with the state's Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards. The rejected books included references to critical race theory, common core and social emotional learning in mathematics, the department said. The highest number of books rejected were for grades K-5, where 71% didn't meet the standards, the department said, but it didn't give examples of which books were rejected or the standards that weren't met. "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," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who championed passage of the "Stop WOKE Act," which is aimed at limiting alleged liberal concepts in school curriculum. At a news conference in Jacksonville Monday, DeSantis went on to say that "Math is about getting the right answer, and we want kids to learn to think so they can get the right answer; it's not about how you feel about the problem or to introduce some of these other things." DeSantis, who is eyeing a run for president in 2024, has picked a number of high-profile cultural fights that have bolstered his credibility among the Fox and MAGA wings of the Republican Party. The governor's war on so-called "woke" culture appears to be working for him, as he consistently runs behind only former President Donald Trump in polls assessing potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.