Kelly Hayes
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has approved the state’s initial adoption list for mathematics textbooks — but only after eliminating 41% of submitted materials considered “impermissible” due to new standards, or for containing “prohibited topics.”
For grades K-12, Florida is initially not including 54 of the 132 (41%) submitted math textbooks on the state’s adopted list. The number of math books disapproved by the Florida Department of Education in the new adoption list is the most in Florida’s history, according to a news release sent out by the department.
“We’re going to ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally recognized standards,” Corcoran said in a statement. “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Gov. 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.”
When the FDOE reviewed the submitted materials to create the approved list, the department rejected textbooks that included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), included Common Core or featured the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics, according to a news release from the department.
The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where 71% of submitted materials were deemed inappropriate under Florida standards. For middle school grade levels, 6-8, 20% of materials were rejected, and for high school levels, 9-12, 35% of textbooks were disapproved of.
The department offered a breakdown of why the books were disapproved — 21%, or 28 textbooks, were not included because they “incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT”; 9%, or 12 books, were not included because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards; and 11%, or 14 books, do not align with standards and incorporate prohibited topics.
Despite the large number of books excluded, the department ensured that every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook.
The news of the banned textbooks comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that makes it easier for parents to challenge books and instructional materials they don’t approve of. Supporters of the legislation say it gives parents more involvement in their children’s education, but opponents argue it opens the door to massive book bans. Of note, Florida has third-largest number of school book ban incidents in the country.
“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,” DeSantis 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.”
However, opponents are pushing back following the approved textbook list announcement. Orange County Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani took to Twitter to express her concern over the significant number of textbook rejections.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Florida Republican leaders are preparing to ban Algebra from high schools. They object to the subliminal use of [brackets] as an indoctrination to the concept of inclusion, they don’t like the equal sign, and they hate solving problems,” she wrote in a tweet.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Florida Republican leaders are preparing to ban Algebra from high schools. They object to the subliminal use of [brackets] as an indoctrination to the concept of inclusion, they don't like the equal sign, and they hate solving problems! 🤣
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) April 15, 2022
Although not included on the state’s initial adopted list, publishers have the ability to appeal any non-adoption decision. Publishers also have the ability to substitute or revise submitted bids to be included on the state’s adopted list if the substitution or revision of submitted instructional materials ultimately meets Florida’s bid specifications.
71 comments
Gregory Rothenberger
April 16, 2022 at 1:55 pm
I need DETAILS, what was the language that the NAZIs felt was inappropriate? MY guess is that it was most likely because there was a word problem that probably used names OTHER THAN Mike, Matt, John, and Luke. Just my guess, probably said something like, Aaliyah has 5 apples, and Chaquille has 3 apples, how many total apples are there. In all seriousness, until I see the actual reason they were ban, I am willing to bet my guess is very close to reality.
Kay Horne
April 16, 2022 at 5:45 pm
The reasons for banning were quite adequately explained in the article.
Shannon
April 18, 2022 at 11:38 am
There were no details. You are just going to take their word for it that the textbook included CRT without asking for specific examples?
Marjorie S Dwyer
April 18, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Exactly. I want to see pictures of the objectionable material.
“critical race theory” is taught only in law school.
Bob
April 26, 2022 at 9:24 pm
Critical race theory is taught in schools
In my school, students in math class were asked to graph incidents of racism at our school.
Our staff, in which probably 99% are Ibram Kendi-worshipping woke liberals, were found to be viciously racist according to the graphs. They committed such heinously racists acts such as asking students to raise their hands, and expecting their students to arrive to class on time.
The students were never challenged on their perceptions. Instead, they were congratulated for doing “the work” and standing up to injustice.
Our test scores are abysmal, students can barely read, but they at least know how to vote! Well done Liberals!
Rob
April 18, 2022 at 6:22 pm
There were details. I found this looking for the page again that actually reported the entire story. One question in a book asked “ Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s _____ at age 8, which shaped her career choices and motivation for writing.” Using the math formula given, they had to choose “boyfriend,” “brother,” or “father” as the answer.”
The correct answer to the algebra problem coincided with an answer to fill the missing blank.
Pennsylvania banned that question in 2017…do a search for the quote.
Where was the outrage then?
Don’t Look Up
April 18, 2022 at 6:38 pm
Fake News Alert. There is no such math book that would ask such a question. Making stuff up doesn’t make you look smart.
Paul
April 19, 2022 at 8:56 am
The question wasn’t wasn’t from a textbook. That part is flat out wrong. It was from an online resource for teachers. But it absolutely was part of an assignment given to students at a PA school, which is another issue and quite disturbing.
Patricia Oliver
April 21, 2022 at 9:00 pm
I followed that story to completion. It was not in textbook. It was a worksheet developed by a teacher who has a business selling his worksheets to teachers.
Sk
April 19, 2022 at 9:59 am
Compilation would take a good minute… if the State Department of Education did the review of texts, that is where you might look for your answers. But I don’t think answers will satisfy leftists. Look at Twitter, protesting the a Constitutional right! The whole notion of SEL is ludicrous. Turning kids with sponges for brains into piles of emotions, sitting at a desk. Teach them to think for themselves, and not become reactive to all information they Feel is wrong, according to texts. Thinkers are what we want, not emotional activists.
Marjorie S Dwyer
April 18, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Where? I didn’t see any examples. And I mean “see.”
Monique
April 18, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Kay Horne: No, it wasn’t adequately explained. We want to know the list of books by name and publisher, so we can read them and decide for ourselves if FL is being fair or not.”
David Prevost
April 21, 2022 at 5:04 pm
I agree totally with Monique.
Mike D
April 18, 2022 at 5:15 pm
The article states the objections, but as a retired teacher, it is hard for me to imagine any math textbook having anything to do with critical race theory or things like it, but the article states that 21% did. A few examples would have been helpful to make the case.
Claudia A Smith
April 18, 2022 at 9:29 pm
However, I want to see the examples.
Ron
April 30, 2022 at 11:47 am
The banned books will end up surplus and given free to Private schools under Florida law!
Susan
April 18, 2022 at 4:52 pm
They want to make sure that our children aren’t exposed to non-binary numbers.
Ed
April 23, 2022 at 12:59 am
You sound exactly like a person who supports the indoctrination of children instead of education. Leftists infest our education system and their goal id to keep creating future Leftists. All that woke, CRT racism and things other than the 3 Rs does NOT belong in the classroom of any child. Anything else is INDOCTRINATION of young minds ad absolutely unacceptable.
Jacqueline Guy
April 16, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Why is the party of small government monitoring everything people do? This whole thing about giving parents more choices in their children’s education is a complete lie.
Apparently teaching about slavery, the diaspora, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Ruby Bridges, the civil rights movement, the poor people’s campaign, etc is seen is CRT. This is blatant white washing of our countries history.
As far as the LGBTQ attacks, it’s disgusting what the Republicans are doing. My whole childhood I read about Cis gender white people and I’m bisexual. I didn’t have separation that idea planted in my head. I was born this way. You can’t catch the gay.
These people are so uncomfortable and outraged because their world is rapidly becoming more inclusive and they hate it.
What a bunch of troglodytes.
Tom
April 17, 2022 at 11:17 am
I was taught about MLK, Harriet Tubman, Slavery, Civil Rights and more in High School. In the 70’s. Before CRT became a thing.
Tom
April 17, 2022 at 6:03 pm
I was taught about MLK, Harriet Tubman, Ruby Bridges, The Civil Rights Movement, slavery, and a host of other subjects when I was in High School. In the 70s. In Florida.
Ed
April 23, 2022 at 1:17 am
Typical Liberal thinking. Way. way back when I attended grade and high school we were taught American history. It wasn’t whitewashed (oops is that a racist term?). We learned about slavery, MLK, Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad, the Civil War, why it was fought and the struggle of the Blacks throughout. Teachers were not biased, questions by students were always answered honestly. We learned and how to think for ourselves. Nobody pushed any of what is now known as the LGBTQ+, woke or CRT on students and, those that were such , lived quietly among us with no repercussions or stigma, causing no problems, same with the Black community that shared our schools events and everything else equally. Problem today is these have become special interest groups demanding and forcing others to adapt to their way of thinking and acting and making huge exceptions for them. This builds resentment on both sides . Why cant those of the LGBTQ+ community just live among us instead of trying to change the sex of children by confusing them at early ages and indoctrinating them. It wasn’t a problem in my generation so why are you making it a problem now? Leave the kids alone. P.s. I am 85 years of age.
TJC
April 16, 2022 at 3:13 pm
This is the funny part: “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis.”
By “national” he means Louisiana and Alabama and other states who spend as little money on education as possible while hunting down culture war enemies with all their energy and will. Good job Goobernor Ron, you’re a real leader of goobers.
Farmer'sDaughter
April 18, 2022 at 3:17 pm
Sounds about right. My oldest son went to live with his dad in FL from PA just after he entered 3rd grade. He called so proud of getting all A’s. I was proud also until he sent some of his schoolwork and it was 2nd grade level in PA. He got A’s because he’d already done that work. They were at least a grade level behind in FL. He wasn’t learning anything new there.
Greg Nibler
April 16, 2022 at 6:58 pm
Why would they say they’ve found all these “bad” things but can’t site a single one?
The “Party of Personal Responsibility” seems pretty set in making all your decisions for you.
Antonio
April 17, 2022 at 11:21 am
“ references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), included Common Core and featured the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics”
Those are the reasons. None of that should be in math books. And it helps Florida to maintain the education standards we have had in this country instead of lowering them like some states, such as Oregon, are starting to do.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oregon-scraps-math-english-high-school-graduation-requirements/ar-
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oregon-scraps-math-english-high-school-graduation-requirement
Colonel McD
April 18, 2022 at 8:52 am
That’s the general reasons given — but without any specific examples released, is easy to conclude they are lying. What not give the specifics if they are so valid?
Monique
April 18, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Antonio: I would like to see the list of books by name and publisher and read them myself. If DeSantis won’t release the list, obviously, he is hiding something.
Claudia A Smith
April 18, 2022 at 9:33 pm
Antoni, those may be the “reasons,” but they show no proof.
tom palmer
April 16, 2022 at 10:47 pm
This is batshit crazy.
Grant Elliott
April 16, 2022 at 11:01 pm
Unfortunately, we have no one to to blame but ourselves. We as a state elected DeSantis. So all the craziness is our fault. We as a people need to find a way to work together to prevent people like DeSantis from destroying everything he can
Colonel McD
April 18, 2022 at 8:54 am
Desantis won by 30,000 votes and certainly didn’t have mine. Have the opportunity to repudiate him this year. Get to work.
PeterH
April 17, 2022 at 12:35 am
Florida is marching down the rabbit hole of stupid!
25% of Florida’s children survive below the poverty level ….. but DeSantis is more excited in book burning.
Wait until they ban social studies. I can’t wait for CNN to flag each and every section of what DeSantis deems inappropriate in 41% of Florida’s “MATH” books! Good grief!
Colonel McD
April 18, 2022 at 9:00 am
if it was only just stupid and not evil.
Tom Shannon
April 17, 2022 at 9:03 am
Math??? Math???? Is 2+2 still 4? Why are there 132 different books on math? Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide plus Fractions is all we need to know about math for K thru 5. No politics, no religion, no bullshit. Let the kids learn what they need: Useful information for
an educational background that teaches them how to think, not what to think.
Marjorie S Dwyer
April 18, 2022 at 12:46 pm
I am a certified teacher (retired). I tutored children in Cleveland with the best math workbook I have ever seen. It is a 1949 Silver Burdett, Making Sure of Arithmetic for first grade. The figures are drawings in black and white on white paper. The only thing I changed was that I shaded some of the figures with pencil and made one copy at a time for a student. It was simple, graduated in difficulty, taught about each number separately and how to draw it. Children are allowed to write in K without being taught or supervised and results are not good. There is a reason that we teachers were taught to use Zaner-Bloser methods. Because it was the best and it worked. Sorry to say that Pearson has a monopoly because they bought the copyrights to Silver Burdett, Scott, Foresman, etc. Follow the money.
Marjorie S Dwyer
April 18, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Yes. Common core is an idea that has been hi-jacked. E.D. Hirsch, Jr. wrote a book, “Cultural Literacy,” in which he explains that with all the diverse people in the country it would be helpful to have a common basic curriculum to work from. And Larry is giving an example of it that he experienced. To elaborate, it helps if everyone understands references to Sacajawea, “not too hot, not too cold, but just right,” origins of slavery, the American Civil War, Pearl Harbor, the holocaust, the workings of our government-name the three branches of our federal government, etc. I presented World War II in half an hour to an 8th grade class which had never heard of it. I had to buy a map to put on the blackboard. There is a list of hundreds of references for the literate person to understand or at least have heard of in Dr. Hirsch’s book. Knowing about these references is to understand a kind of short-hand used by writers and speakers. It is valuable too to recent immigrants. I had a friend who was playing a game. “Peter Rabbit” was the identity pinned on his back. He was one of the top people in the NASA wind energy program. He had never heard of Peter Rabbit.
Anthony
April 17, 2022 at 9:42 am
What does a CRT inclusive math book look like?
Your neighbor has 8 times as many slaves as you. You had 11, one is pregnant, you lynched 2, one died from exhaustion and you sold one. How many slaves does your neighbor have?
Just ridiculous!
Dewey Pruett
April 18, 2022 at 9:44 am
I think the answer is 56.
Gary Dunlap
April 18, 2022 at 1:03 pm
oh stop, when did you ever see something like that. why are you afraid of everything. teachers, masks, immigrants, shots, antifa. geez, what a bunch of pussies.
Peggy
April 17, 2022 at 11:22 am
Corcoran is an advocate for charter school expansion and private school vouchers. His brother Michael Corcoran is a lobbyist for charter school management company, Accelerated Learning Solutions, and his wife Anne helped found a charter school for whom she acts as CEO. Follow the money. It’s always about the money
Antonio
April 17, 2022 at 11:23 am
“ references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), included Common Core and featured the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics”
Those are the reasons. None of that should be in math books. And it helps Florida to maintain the education standards we have had in this country instead of lowering them like some states, such as Oregon, are starting to do.
https://news.yahoo.com/oregon-governor-signs-bill-ending-154100667.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACAYh8kKgKhWLgdFlgV-GpKiuGucW7WWw9Gx_H-WEHlD4DCku2nnGPig0Nh-IDiZTfE9Bjd8IDx6sjubBgf-nFFsgNvekAfl8QqUBDxwzqdd6q7qRDmrN71lshf3Rk_TkCKr59Au7U4Z9ORZI8sphZ5y1ky4ysS-LX5CTNcc7YNQ
Colonel McD
April 18, 2022 at 8:58 am
These are the stated reasons. Hard to believe they are true. Releasing the specific examples that disqualified the books would allow us to know it the rationales made sense, or as is far more likely, expose the hate, corruption and lies inherent in the process.
larry
April 18, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Common Core in math is simply teaching the same math topics nationally so students transferring from state to state have a seamless transition. It was especially helpful for military children. There is absolutely nothing political about common core except higher expectations in math. I taught it for ten years and believe me its all math.
andrew
April 18, 2022 at 1:51 pm
But what does that look like in the book? Are you sheep enough that you just believe what some government operative tells you? Don’t you want to see details and decide for yourself if what they are seeing is CRT or SEL? I want to see examples of these materials with my eyes and not just follow the overlords judgement.
Monique
April 18, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Andrew — thank you! my thoughts exactly! If DeSantis won’t release the list, he is hiding something. I want to read these books and decide for myself!
JD
April 17, 2022 at 11:47 am
LMAO – just as people got tired of “Woke” politics, they’ve tired of “culture wars”.
A reckoning will come. It might not be in 2022, but it might in 2024 / 26. Just like the populist French President candidate backed off her rhetoric, the GOP will as well (if they’re smart).
Don’t forget, there’s still 3.8M independents and NPAs in the Sunshine State.
Don’t Look Up
April 17, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Fun Fact:
This ‘board of education’ DOES NOT represent Florida parents ….. it represents the Florida legislature’s and DeSantis’s political agenda.
Walter Seely
April 17, 2022 at 2:09 pm
The man is either delusional or totally spineless and beholden to DeSantis to make a statement like this… Corcoran said “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis.”
Zephyr424
April 17, 2022 at 10:10 pm
Don’t listen to the leftists, Governor. We see how their philosophy is turning out in places like San Francisco, the birthplace of the counter-culture. There are homeless encampments, smash and grab thieves everywhere etc. etc. etc. And those are the direct descendants of the drug culture, porn shops, homosexual bath houses and beggars. Keep up the great work. Now we need other states to follow suit.
Miller
April 18, 2022 at 10:13 am
Oh please, Fl has always been a hotspot for the homeless. I remember the “drifters” committing murders back in the 60s, usually leaving the dead in orange groves. Daytona Beach pier was nothing but hookers, dopers and thieves for decades – they just moved them on to another spot now. The libraries still have them coming in and using it as their personal bathroom. Under bridges you have all the sex offenders. As long as the sun shines in FL the homeless will come.
Pa
April 18, 2022 at 12:17 pm
The reactions to this are exactly what the Governor plays off of, by riling up the masses, all clinging to narratives unsupported by facts. Both sides do it, but it has reached the point of ridiculousness. The State should at least publish the list and specific examples so an actual debate on the issues can occur, instead of the hasty conclusions and snowball fallacies posted on this thread. My children went through the Florida Public Schools, and I teach math subjects at the college level. I can tell you, some of the books are just plain bad, for numerous reasons. But the hypersensitivity to narratives is the problem. What it does show, is that regardless of what books are chosen, education, especially as it relates to logic and reason, is left wanting.
Claire
April 18, 2022 at 6:03 pm
Funny, I see plenty of homeless in red state Florida. It has to do with weather.
Beth
April 18, 2022 at 7:02 am
Did they have a big book burning fire to celebrate? Hey idiots, critical race theory is a college course and has never been taught in elementary middle or high school. At this point pathological liar DeSantis will say anything to get more money. This is a guy who put his own children in an ad for a self proclaimed sexual predator. He has no business making any decisions about the welfare or education of children and neither does his corrupt greedy lackey Corcoran. There are no decent Republicans in FL who actually believe in Democracy. They all need to be voted out.
lyle milstein
April 18, 2022 at 7:51 am
yes
Jeff
April 18, 2022 at 6:12 pm
There are no decent Republicans, period. They’re all full of hate and/or ignorance. Convinced Dems are out to destroy the country while their compatriots actually tried to overthrow the government. You just can’t make this stuff up.
Florida Going in Reverse
April 18, 2022 at 8:24 am
Everyday is worse than the day before with this government.
Gary Hart
April 18, 2022 at 9:24 am
Oliver Twist was banned in Nazi Germany for containing Jewish actors. So I guess an minority names or references to minorities are banned in Florida. Does any of this sound familiar?
Julie G Delegal
April 18, 2022 at 10:12 am
Looks like there’ll be a lucrative new textbook contract for a preferred company, or preferred companies. Please follow the money.
For all the headlines I’ve yet to see one specific, concrete example of what’s objectionable. The objections are probably a stretch at best, and are likely subterfuge for payola for donors.
andrew
April 18, 2022 at 1:49 pm
Can we please see some examples of the “objectionable materials”? I’d like to see a representative picture of a page that triggered the snowflakes to reject a math book. Don’t just tell me it had “unsolicited SEL”, show me details of the page so I can decide for myself if it’s “unsolicited SEL” or if it’s some reactionary buffoon getting butthurt because there is something in a book that doesn’t fit his (I’m assuming) worldview or agenda. Examples please!!!
Southern Logic
April 18, 2022 at 3:50 pm
More states should be this diligent. CRT teaches how to be racist and how one group is inferior to the rest based on skin color. Glad they are looking into this. There is no reason math should have word problems that call out race, gender, or sex. If this were not done next year we would have hitlers mein kampf required reading in english.
Good Job Florida!
David Pilcher
April 18, 2022 at 5:46 pm
Your pitiful attempt at explaining what CRT does illuminates your abject ignorance of the subject. News flash: CRT is not being taught in K-12 public schools. If so, give me one example. “Southern Logic” Haha! That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever seen one. How you could logically relate math word problems to Hitler’s autobiography would have to be the academic achievement of the century.
Jeff
April 18, 2022 at 6:14 pm
That’s not even remotely what CRT is.
Pam George
April 18, 2022 at 5:24 pm
Didnt; Hitler ban or burn books?
Is something wrong with history telling us women once could not vote and by law, now they can? At one time children with developmental challenges could not go to school with so called mainstream kids- now they can. If we learn about the Civil War and even have Civil War
re-enactments-what’s wrong with learning about slavery how they became free or segregation and how states no longer have segregation? What is wrong with children learning how we learned from things that were not so good to making things better for everyone like the America claims to be? Just because you learn about something doesn’t mean it becomes your values. Why are people so afraid of education be it American History, Math? Maybe children are not afraid or fragile-it’s the parents and the politics that appear to be the cowards.
David Pilcher
April 18, 2022 at 5:54 pm
54% of American adults can’t read above a 6th-grade level, but yet, DeSantis and Florida Republicans seem to think most Floridian parents are qualified to determine what’s adequate reading material for their kids. What a joke!
Don’t Look Up
April 18, 2022 at 6:42 pm
It’s been two full days since DeSantis made this outrageous statement. We’re still waiting for his list of math books, date of publication and specific citations. Trust me…..parents were not involved with this decision.
Gerilyn Healey
April 18, 2022 at 7:23 pm
The article does not included titles or publishing companies of the books soooooo upsetting to snowflakes. I was a teacher, I wanted to see any familiar texts and what pray-tell is wrong with a MATH book?
Lee Goodwin
April 18, 2022 at 8:02 pm
Here’s a Florida approved math problem: Joe Biden gets seven votes and Donald Trump gets six votes. For extra credit, explain why Donald Trump won the election.
Concern Citizen
April 19, 2022 at 9:25 am
Also approved
Farmer Jones has 10 cats. These cats are black or white. There are 6 white cats. How many black cats does Farmer Jones have.
Ron DeSantis answer…. “Too many black cats and Homeland Security should investigate to make sure these cats are not illegal immigrants and any female black cat must be spaded
Tjb
April 19, 2022 at 9:03 am
Farmer Jones has 10 cats. These cats are black or white. There are 6 white cats. How many black cats does Farmer Jones have.
Ron DeSantis answer…. “Too many black cats and Homeland Security should investigate to make sure these cats are not illegal immigrants and any female black cat must be spaded.
Robert Brown
April 19, 2022 at 9:23 am
As an out of state reader, it appears that Florida is full of haters. Did any one of you even look for the what may be the good in what DeSantis proposed? Of course not. It’s easier to just complain and shout “racism” than to go the extra mile to seek information.
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