FL Rejects 54 Math Textbooks, Publisher's Attempts To ‘Indoctrinate’ Students: FDOE

FLORIDA — The Florida Department of Education rejected 41 percent of the 132 math textbooks included on the state’s initial adoption list of mathematics instructional materials because they “contained prohibited topics” or didn’t align with the state’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (BEST) Standards, according to a news release from the department.

The 54 rejected books — the largest number rejected in Florida’s history — were removed from the list because they included references to critical race theory, Common Core or social-emotional learning, FDOE said.

The department said that publishers are attempting “to indoctrinate students” by including these topics, according to the news release.

“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,” said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran.

The highest number of books rejected were for grades K-5, in which the FDOE found “an alarming 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.”

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Meanwhile, 20 percent of materials for grades six through eight and 35 percent of textbooks for grades nine through 12 were rejected, department said.

Despite the number of textbooks rejected, every core mathematics course and grade is covered by at least one approved textbook, FDOE added.

The Florida State Board of Education banned the teaching of critical race theory in June 2021 after a campaign by Gov. Ron DeSantis against CRT.

"We need to be educating people, not trying to indoctrinate them with ideology," the Republican governor said at the time.

And on Twitter he wrote, "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."

In 2019, he also issued an executive order to eliminate Common Core in Florida and develop new education standards in the state.

In recent months, the Florida Legislature passed the “Stop Woke Act,” which prohibits teachings on race and gender in schools and the workplace considered divisive or harmful, and the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which limits discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools.

DeSantis applauded the FDOE’s removal of math textbooks that don’t align with Florida’s education standards.

“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 in a statement. “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.”