Kelly Hayes
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) has released several examples from rejected mathematics textbooks considered “impermissible” by the Department after receiving a mass of requests in response to the agency’s significant cut of approved instructional material.
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran approved the restrictive list on Monday, announcing that Florida is initially not including 54 of the 132 — that’s 41% — submitted math textbooks on the state’s adopted list. The number of math books rejected by the FDOE in the new list is the most in Florida’s history.
The examples provided by the Department feature math problems that contain “prohibited topics,” like social-emotional learning and references to studies that feature topics like race and racism. When the FDOE reviewed the submitted materials to create the approved list, the Department said it 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.
One question about adding and subtracting polynomials sets up the equation reading, “What? Me? Racist? More than 2 million people have tested their racial prejudice using an online version of the Implicit Association Test.” The information continues by explaining mathematical models used to measure bias, providing the test results as a graphing example.
Another example features social-emotional learning goals as part of the lesson’s objective on successive numbers, which provides a group learning exercise option.
“Based on the volume of requests the Department has received for examples of problematic elements of the recently reviewed instructional materials, the following are examples provided to the Department by the public and presented no conflict in sharing them,” a disclaimer on the department page reads.
“These examples do not represent an exhaustive list of input received by the Department. The Department is continuing to give publishers the opportunity to remediate all deficiencies identified during the review to ensure the broadest selection of high-quality instructional materials are available to the school districts and Florida’s students.”
The highest number of books rejected were for K-5 grade levels, where 71% of submitted materials were deemed inappropriate under Florida standards. For middle school grade levels, Grades 6-8, 20% of materials were rejected. For high school levels, Grades 9-12, 35% of textbooks were axed.
The Department offered a breakdown of why the books were rejected — 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 Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (BEST) 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.
News of the banned textbooks comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure 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 the third-largest number of school book ban incidents in the country.
However, opponents are pushing back following the approved textbook list announcement. PEN America slammed the FDOE and Corcoran, calling the restrictive list an “educational gag order.”
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.
59 comments
Math stuff
April 21, 2022 at 4:39 pm
If I have 4 groups of white men and all of them talk the good game and i Took away all the power they have what do they have left? Lol
Joe Hepperle
April 23, 2022 at 3:30 am
Not enough information. What “power” did you unrealistically take away from them? Electric power? Muscle power? Political power? If they ‘talk a good game’ as you claim, then you’ve accomplished nothing more than what a tornado, or a California wild-fire, or a Wall Street crash could accomplish. As we’ve seen in real life, those who talk a good game will be right back, recouping their losses and re-enslaving you and your family in short order: And, they’ll somehow find a way to use YOUR money to finance their return to power.
Mr. GiveMe Abreak
April 23, 2022 at 8:12 am
Wait, wait, wait, was it the power to work a dead end job and two part-time jobs to pay bills for their kids who are going to school to be taught their father is a POS because, even though believes in equal rights for people and is a kind person, he has the same skin color as someone who uses race as a cover to act like a predator? Is that the power you’d take away?
Concern Citizen
April 21, 2022 at 4:52 pm
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.
Joe Hepperle
April 23, 2022 at 3:41 am
Clearly an unrealistic question by someone who rarely leaves the City. If you knew more about real life outside of your Common Core bubble you would know that Farmer Jones does not have — and never would have — ten cats of any color hanging around his farm. That’s what the 22 rifle leaning against the wall by the back door is for. (Really!)
Well yes
April 23, 2022 at 3:50 am
“ who rarely leaves the city”
Who wants to see you farm dirt and for nothing? Lol
Joe Hepperle
April 23, 2022 at 4:49 am
I’m sorry I triggered you. I was trying to point out that your pseudo-math problem started with an unrealistic premise — that Farmer Jones would have ten cats running around his farm. Maybe I could help you understand the unrealistic premise your question started with by the following pseudo-math problem:
Ten Hillary supporters were cheering and applauding Donald Trump at his Juneteenth Tulsa rally. Six Hillary supporters were wearing dresses, and four Hillary supporters were wearing men’s pants. How many Hillary supporters were women?
A. Three
B. Seven
C. None
D. We don’t know – we aren’t biologists
Now, maybe if you started your pseudo-math problem with the following, it would be more realistic:
“Mister Betacuck McHillarysupporter has ten cats. These cats are black or white…”
PeterH
April 21, 2022 at 5:00 pm
What a joke! Two examples that are not inappropriate for teenagers and this State disclaimer says it all:
“The Public Input period for the 2021-2022 Mathematics Adoption was open from 1/14/2022 to 1/28/2022. The Public Input period is now closed.
……so a less than three week public or academic vetting period and absolutely no publications defining what the State perceived as a problem.
If DeSantis thinks for a second that this is going to end well ….. LOL
Joe Hepperle
April 23, 2022 at 4:00 am
If you have children, you care about them. Because you care about them, you know what they are doing now, and you know what their schedule for the near-future is. You keep an eye on them to ensure they remain on the right path.
If you have a State education system, and you care about it, you know what it is doing now, and what it will be doing in the near-future. You keep an eye on it to ensure it remains on the right path.
Everyone who actually cares about their education system knew well in advance of the January 14th through January 28th public comment period. Those people who actually cared took the time to investigate, and prepare a comment — if they felt the need so to do.
I didn’t see you there.
Comment
April 21, 2022 at 5:04 pm
All countries are somewhat facist. I do not think troughiing the book at them will elevate anything.you learn and create your own science and technology and foods phycopath will not save you
Raheim
April 21, 2022 at 5:08 pm
This is 21st century Judenfrei censorship. Certified CRT Free standards will be next and the only publishers will be pop up white wing entities pushing segregationist ideologies at a massive premium. This has all been done before.
DeSantis Youth is coming soon.
Charlotte Greenbarg
April 22, 2022 at 7:33 am
Another far left 🦜using the Holocaust for political purposes. Trivializing the Holocaust. They’re all alike
Daniel Crow
April 22, 2022 at 9:57 am
We trivialize it by ignoring what it has to teach us.
Don’t Look Up you might see something
April 22, 2022 at 12:09 pm
“Never again” is running hallow in Ukraine….. isn’t it Charlotte whiner!
Concern Citizen
April 21, 2022 at 5:08 pm
Book burning and censorship is now on the agenda of the Floridian Republican legislators. First Amendment only applies it the “speech” jives with their view.
Comment
April 21, 2022 at 5:15 pm
Nothing about the islands and Spanish inslaving them or going back to there countries trying slavery there too
Angry parent
April 21, 2022 at 5:43 pm
Failure by news and media in Florida to cover the violation of Florida administrative code rule making for Gardiner scholarship aka fes-ua has allowed the student funding organizations aka step up for students and aaa to create arbitrary and capricious rules by parent handbook for years. Is it any wonder Florida doe and Richard Corcoran are out of control? Good thing no one wants him for tenured positions but he will get even, won’t he? Vindictive and narcissistic given a pass and financial support for years.
Meredith Shaw
April 21, 2022 at 7:06 pm
FIrst they ban books. And they ban information tracking during a pandemic. Then they ban science. Then they ban certain people. Then they ban education. Then they punish freedom of thought. Then they ban people who think freely. Then they enforce programmed education. Then they use people’s inability to think or act to eliminate other people’s rights completely. Then they eliminate everyone’s rights. A vote for republicans now is a vote to destroy democracy. Nothing new here. We have seen it all before. Welcome to the Florida Legislature. The new Bundestag.
Kathleen
April 22, 2022 at 6:38 am
Well said.
Charlotte Greenbarg
April 22, 2022 at 7:35 am
Yet another far left parrot trivializing the Holocaust . A pox on your house
2nd job
April 22, 2022 at 12:02 pm
Charlotte go get a second job so you can pay all those higher taxes now that reedy creek is gone lol
Mark D Soskin
April 22, 2022 at 3:37 pm
Six years of Hebrew School in the 1950s and 60s at an Orthodox Synagogue, including Talmudic studies, and they never mentioned Holocaust. Shoah too sensitive a topic for discuss then, so my question, “why all these fast days, but none of WW2” concentration camp mass murder? (didn’t yet have a name!). Now, it’s Never Forget, while Bibi spent 20 years as Prime Minister “trivializing” the word Antisemitism any disagreement with HIS policies. Israel still leaves Haredi ultra orthodox far too much power over secular, Reform, and Conservative Jews, and settlement residents too much protection to help provoke violence. Israel had admiration of the world until Likud took over. Power always corrupts.
FreeBased
April 22, 2022 at 5:18 pm
Sounds like a casual Friday at the DNC, you and all proto-fasist, progressives and Democrats are fundamentally dim, self absorbed, dictatorial, racists, and completely blind to the fact that everything they engage in that they think is most important, is either how to make black people completely dependant on Democratic handouts, stunting them economically, and mentally, killing babies, and destroying anything associated with the very yes turbulent past in our country, turbulent in the fact that everything from the civil war, segregation, opposition to minority civil rights, to the assassination of President Lincoln, all Democratic endeavours, you know how the Democrats LOST the civil war, Democratic imposing segregation on our country, Lincoln being a Republican being killed by a Democrat, you guys are completely incapable of creating anything enjoyable, you complain about everything constantly, and your hatred of our past present and future, makes you the least self aware, loathed and despised group of people walking this planet.
A heavy one
April 23, 2022 at 3:52 am
“Self important”
Yes making sure the red states have a decent meal with my liberal dollars is a challenge I never wanted you are correct. Lol
Joe Hepperle
May 1, 2022 at 8:22 pm
Stop drinking that Kool-ade. Your STATE contributes more to the Federal Budget than my State — but only because your 48 million dwarfs my 2 million. Your STATE, as an imaginary political boundary contributes more.
But YOU, individually, don’t contribute any more than anyone else — in whatever State you, or they, are in.
It’s a trick with numbers. Stop doing that.
SteveH
April 22, 2022 at 7:58 pm
Wow. For a second there, I could’ve sworn you were talking about our universities. Or maybe Twitter.
Prof von Grote Kaas
April 23, 2022 at 8:20 am
Do you mean the Reichstag? or has that 1619 woman written some new history of Germany where the new parliament established in 1949 AFTER the end of Nazism (also called the Bundestag) time travelled backwards to aid fascism?
I can’t keep up with all the free thinking liberals are doing these days. Help me out… 🙂 Punish freedom of thought, yeah because only one side is doing that these days. This is a pretty special post on a number of levels. Thanks!
Frankie M.
April 21, 2022 at 10:32 pm
This is outrageous! I cannot believe they stil have books in school. I thought reading was dead. All that fancy book learnin’ will put ideas in kids heads. Next thing ya know they’ll aspire for more than driving trucks and working as a greeter at Wal-Mart.
Florida chips
April 23, 2022 at 3:55 am
Yeah sure! And maybe one day they will make microchips and computers In those barns! Lol
Simon
April 21, 2022 at 10:34 pm
DuhSantis has elevated himself to Der Fuhrer. Careful or the only color acceptable to state employees will be brown shirts. He is only a legal assistant by training, what makes him an expert on education now? God save Florida from these fascist in suits!
Norm Merton
April 22, 2022 at 12:34 am
When are journalists going to do their jobs regarding these textbooks? Buy one of them, go through it, and cite examples to demonstrate why people object to or support them. What, there’s no budget to do this simple research? We need to rely on the Dept. of Ed.? So lazy and so opinionated, and so reliant on readers to buy the spin they prefer.
Timothy J Harrigan
April 22, 2022 at 4:26 pm
RE: “Buy one of them, go through it, and cite examples to demonstrate why people object to or support them. What, there’s no budget to do this simple research? “
It would be easier to buy one and go through it if the Florida government would identify what books they’re talking about, but that information is not available to anyone outside of the upper echelon of the Florida Republican party. As long as transparent government remains anathema to the elitist who decide what your children will be taught, the free press will be restricted as to what you will see.
Gavin Lambel
April 22, 2022 at 4:01 am
In the first example, this article falsely claims that “The information continues by explaining mathematical models used to measure bias”. In reality, the book does not explain how bias was measured or interpreted. It only explains how to graph interpretations that it falsely claims to be factual. Neither the book, nor this article, bothered to mention that the disclaimer on the Project Implicit website says “However, these Universities, as well as the individual researchers who have contributed to this site, make no claim for the validity of these suggested interpretations.” Presenting bigotry as fact is not what math books are for.
They don’t do that well
April 22, 2022 at 6:01 am
What this Republican Gavin is doing is trying to pass off his opinion as fact.
I think they just hate math. Too many things to remember
Citizen
April 23, 2022 at 10:05 am
What this nameless robot is doing is being a hypocrite in the name of politics. I think he can’t think for himself. No substance.
Brian J Schweitzer
April 22, 2022 at 9:07 am
Historically, the people that ban books are never the “good guys”.
SteveH
April 22, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Tell that to Amazon.
Ed
April 22, 2022 at 11:12 am
The Florida Constitution says I, as the parent, have full control over what my children are taught. Not the teacher, not the principal, not the school board and not the governor or legislature. All of these positions are SERVANTS to the People, who hold ALL political power.
When I was razed and educated in this state, I had an affinity for math, and did quite well at it through all my grades. Never one time in 17 years of school was the topic of race brought up in any of my math classes as a educational subject.
I don’t want my children taught about race or racism in math class at all. Thank you Mr. Corcoran for bringing up this subject, while I may not trust your department to vet my children’s text books, I now know that I have to read all of them myself.
For too long we have trusted our public servants on both sides of the isles and now the coordinated corruption has reached the very basic local level of government.
My local school board lost 11+ million dollars recently because of lower enrollment. I will be moving my two remaining scholars out of our county system next year. I also plan on going after their bonds for violations of Oath of Office.
We the People are winning. We will setup new systems that properly manage our business.
“That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration. And that, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal”
That makes two
April 22, 2022 at 12:08 pm
Two remaining scholars out of the county
To ruin that one too I doubt
Refactor
April 23, 2022 at 4:05 am
They certainly “razed” you well. Now let’s move on to razing some of these textbooks!
Michael Coats
April 23, 2022 at 6:20 am
I am so sorry you were razed as a child. Was your town completely razed or were some buildings left standing? I am sure from reading your opinions you were just as excellent a student at math as you were in vocabulary.
Billy Bags
April 22, 2022 at 11:57 am
The racial prejudice graphs probably don’t belong in a pure math textbook. There are other ways to teach how to read a graph. Plus, starting the Y-axis at 26 (instead of 0) on a bar graph is a distortion technique used to exaggerate differences among groups. This technique is more acceptable on a line graph, but should still be used with caution, especially when dealing with sensitive information. The graph above (on the right) makes it seem like liberal-leaning individuals score far lower on the IAT, but the differences are not as broad as they appear at first glance. This could be a teaching technique, but it is impossible to tell if this issue is addressed from the small photo presented.
Racial prejudice is a legitimate subject to teach in a junior-high or high school classroom, with all the research techniques discussed and analyzed. But presenting such material in a math textbook seems like a good way to distract from the lesson and derail the conversation away from learning math.
Norm Merton
April 22, 2022 at 1:08 pm
Exactly right. Math students (I am a HS pre-calc and calc teacher) love nothing better than to derail a word problem by focusing on its non-mathematical details, and bring racial prejudice into it would do as good a job of derailing as anything I can imagine. As to the bar-graph distortion issue, unfortunately math texts are riddled with this sort of thing.
Laura B Hendry
April 22, 2022 at 12:43 pm
As a high school math teacher and a professional I do find it a bit extreme that curriculum is being labeled impermissible but it is a true statement that writers and publishers do take liberties to express their viewpoints and ideologies within their texts and exercise sets. The reality is that teachers drive the curriculum and lead the discussions within the classrooms. Having competent and professional teachers in every level in the classroom is key to establishing an environment where learning is paramount and increasing the confidence level in all students is the goal. Curriculum is simply a resource and most math teachers really wish that publishers would just stick to the concepts and elaborate with age-appropriate, relevant statistics and topics rather than add fluff that propagate a social agenda.
edblarnes
April 23, 2022 at 2:06 am
Laura – thanks for the honest comment.
This examples are pretty bad and it’s clear they don’t belong in Math textooks.
Liberals are sounding the alarm, and madman DeSantis has produced some reasonable examples of concern here.
It makes the progressive hysteria over this look misrepresented, and makes them look bad.
How badly do you have to screw up in order to enable DeSantis to actually win a few points on legitimacy?
I’m partly American, partly Canadian – and in ‘Socialist Centre Left Canada’ – those examples would be enough to not allow books either.
What’s going on in America? Why are people making textbooks with needlessly controversial material?
Margaret Scarbini
April 22, 2022 at 1:46 pm
Billy Bob has 3 sisters. He’s only attracted to 3 of them. How many sisters are disappointed when he doesn’t want to marry them?
Joe Hepperle
April 23, 2022 at 2:35 pm
I know! I know! I know! Teacher, call on me!
How many sisters are disappointed when he doesn’t want to marry them?
The answer is “two” — the two that are pregnant by him. Right?
If we can get more “Story time with a transgender” classes taught to the third-graders, and school assembly events that require students to dress in ‘drag’, these problems of heterosexuality will go away. When we accomplish that, then the quiz question will read — more appropriately — as;
“Billy Bob has three sisters, Of these four children, how many are biological males?
A. Three
B. Four
C. Two
D. None. All four are non-binary.”
And of course, the correct answer will be “D”. And you are guilty of a hate crime for assuming any of them are slaves of the Patriarchy. None of them acquiesce to their Patriarch assigned gender-slave names of “male” or “female”
Michael Fairman
April 23, 2022 at 8:20 pm
What the entirety of your comments on this thread reveal is your bigotry, your lack of compassion for those different from you, you lack of understanding about how young children are actually influenced by these math textbooks (or any of the other books being banned across the country). What you obviously want is indoctrinate a young child to think and behave exactly like you think and behave, and not allow him or her the freedom to learn how to come to their own views.
Joe Hepperle
April 24, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Hey Mike! Thanks for reading the, “…entirety of [my] comments on this thread…”. We all are bigots in that we, each of us, hold fast to that which we believe to be true. If we didn’t hold fast to that which we believe to be true, we would be hypocrites — or worse yet, shallow hypocrites. What we should not do is adopt an attitude that ‘I am right and the other guy is wrong’. I have an opinion, Alice (my boyfriend) has an opinion, and Cindy (my wife) has an opinion. What is not an opinion is the FACT that Cindy (my wife) can have my babies, but Alice (my boyfriend) cannot have my babies — even though I give them both the same “treatment” 😉
As far as having compassion for those different from me, the only ones different from me are the womens, so I’m not sure what you mean? Does having compassion for those different from me mean that I should call them names (like ‘bigot”) and disparage their level of understanding about, “…how young children are actually influenced…”? Is that the type of compassion for those different from me you are writing about? Should I follow your example Mike?
I think I do have compassion for some people who have opinions that differ from mine. For example, you (Mike) think there are only two genders. In your comment about indoctrinating young children, you say that I won’t, “…allow HIM or HER the freedom to learn how to come to their own views.” Well, Mike, you rob our young children of their freedom to choose which of the fifty-two (52) different genders there are when you only allow a “him”, or a “her” choice. But, unlike you Mike, I won’t label you as gender-fluid-phobic, or transphobic.
I love you Mike — even though some of our opinions clash. How is your weekend going otherwise? It is sunny here today, but the wind is too strong to enjoy those rays outside. Take care Mike.
(P.S. My name is Joe Hepperle, but ‘Alice’ is not my boyfriend’s real name, and ‘Cindy’ is not my wife’s real name — changed to protect their privacy or something like that)
Scott Dick
April 22, 2022 at 1:47 pm
Banning books is so gay.
TheDonald
April 22, 2022 at 1:52 pm
DeSantis sounds like a woman whining because this weeks coupon section is lack luster. So unmanly. Whine your way to winning Ronny Dion!
David McLaughlin
April 22, 2022 at 3:18 pm
Florida Man Part Two – Don’t say Racist.
rass
April 22, 2022 at 3:29 pm
I’m mighty disappointed that the examples don’t include- How many brain cells did Rona lose when he got wild with Matt and the escorts? Too many, is the apparent answer!
Jim Wiggin
April 22, 2022 at 3:52 pm
But those examples were all provided by the public and do not even identify the textbook from which they allegedly were copied.
The polynomials set forth beneath the bar charts do not appear to have anything to do with the data sets, which suggests that somebody cut-and-pasted this together.
tom palmer
April 22, 2022 at 7:51 pm
If the educrats in Tallahassee had been open about this in the first place, it may not have been as big a deal as it became. SEL sounds like something that came out a College of Education somewhere. just like new math and look-see spelling.
edblarnes
April 23, 2022 at 2:03 am
Before reading this I despised DeSantis, now I agree with him.
Those kinds of things do not belong in Math Textbooks.
Defining racism in the terms the Left wants (i.e. can only be relevant in a power imbalance, ergo, only Whites can be racist), and then trying to use that ideology in a math textbook is completely wrong.
Racial profiling used by schools and DEI programs is arguably racist.
That liberals ‘change their tone of voice’ and ‘talk down’ to people of colour, when Conservatives do not – is arguably a form of racism.
This is obvious and blatant politicization of a subject and there’s just no reason for it.
DeSantis is very correct to get rid of these books and if liberals don’t realize that they are going to lose bad.
If Trump was not running in the next election, my ‘default vote’ just flipped from Democrats, to ‘whoever is not Democrat’.
The manner in which this subject has been misrepresented in the press is shocking, I’m putting CNN down a notch, it’s getting almost as bad as Fox.
Debbie
April 23, 2022 at 11:37 am
These excerpts are strategically cut abd pasted out of the full context of the kissing abd yes, students need to learn to interpret raw data wgen they are presented with it and have interesting topics to engage their brains. It is not clear what other graphs were included, ir uf tgey were given the source to determine bias in the information set. It is also to be noted that the type of rich problem solving denoted here is usually a certain application section after the concepts are explicitly taught abd are rarely used in the interest of time
Debbie Newlan
April 23, 2022 at 11:39 am
Out of the full context of the lesson
Donald Minick
April 24, 2022 at 2:46 pm
At the risk of repeating someone else’s reply.. I keep reading about how this is “book banning” This is not book banning.. The fact is .. You can go out and purchase any book you wish to purchase as long as its with your own money. Facts matter! A large majority of TAX PAYERS don’t want their kids going to school for political indoctrination. Its that simple. Well, it is for most of us who are truly awake. NOY having YOUR ideology shoved down my kids throat is rather appreciated by me.. I might ad.. That not having any ideology promoted or taught at public schools is really the only morally correct approach to a tax payer funded system beholding to voters of all persuasions. How bet you leftist unawake folks just give up on your attempted power grab. As if I believe that is possible.
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