Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Ron DeSantis /Alamy
Topics: Education
Anish Vij
The Florida Department of Education has banned 54 maths textbooks from its curriculum and claims the books are an attempt to 'indoctrinate' students by referencing Critical Race Theory (CRT).
41 percent of the 132 math textbooks were removed for next year's curriculum as they were not 'aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies', the DOE said in a statement on Friday, 15 April.
"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 department said.
"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."
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After banning the theory from schools, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claims CRT promotes hatred among students and makes individuals feel guilty for racism of the past.
"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 said.
"I'm grateful that Commissioner [of Education Richard] Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law."
Last month, the legislature approved DeSantis' bill against outlaw teachings that assert certain individuals are 'inherently racist [or] sexist] – or 'morally superior'.
Also to characterise individuals' status as 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their race, sex or national origin'.
Florida Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr, who pushed the bill through the senate, told the Washington Post: "It's not about the feel.
"We can't control how a person feels about a topic.
"But what we can control is to have a teacher not go to a student.
"And impose on a male student that they are sexist simply because they are a considered a male."
Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said: "We're going to ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally-recognised standards.
"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 DOE added: "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."