Roughly three weeks ago, the Florida Department of Education announced the rejection of 54 math textbooks for supposedly including critical race theory, which is generally not taught prior to college, and other “woke concepts” like social emotional learning, which does figure in some math textbooks for elementary school.
But they gave no examples whatsoever of what specifically got any of those books rejected, nor did they provide a list of the rejected books. If you wanted that list, you had to cross-check the list of accepted books with the list of all books submitted for review.
After much outcry from a bewildered public, four examples were released, but many questions were left unanswered. Yesterday, the department gave out a lot more information, though some questions still remain. Ana Ceballos and Sommer Brugal for the Miami Herald:
Dozens of state reviewers found no evidence of “prohibited topics” like critical race theory and social-emotional learning in math textbooks, a partial review of nearly 6,000 pages of book examinations shows. However, a much smaller number of reviewers did find examples they disagreed with on those topics.
The textbook examinations were part of a “thorough” review process that led the Florida Department of Education to reject 54 of 132 math textbooks proposed for use in public school classrooms over claims that publishers were attempting to “indoctrinate” students.
The department later announced that 19 books were added back to the state’s adoption list, claiming that publishers made fixes that included “removing woke content.” The state has not explained what publishers had to do to get their books on the approved list so quickly, raising questions about exactly what content the state’s review process found objectionable.
There were “more than 70” reviewers, including teachers and principals.
Many of those educators assessed the books to see whether they would be easy to navigate, understand and keep students interested in the subject of math — and the majority found no evidence of “prohibited topics” like critical race theory in the books.
Apparently the review panel also included parents with no credentials in education. Like Chris Allen, a member of the so-called “Moms for Liberty” “conservative” group.
“I wish they could’ve seen the information I saw,” Chris Allen told the Herald on Friday, speaking to the possible disparities between her responses and those of other reviewers.
What information? Text not actually in the rejected books?
Allen, an aerospace engineer, applied to be a book reviewer in January after seeing the department was seeking participants in the review process. She had already been involved in a book-review process in her district, she said, and figured “why not?”
She reviewed “Thinking Mathematically,” from Savvas Learning Company, a book for the course “Mathematics for College Liberal Arts,” and concluded the state should reject it “based solely on critical race theory elements.”
Allen said the content contained CRT because it put an “emphasis that racism is embedded in American society,” pointing to a lesson plan answer that said, “The United States has eradicated neither poverty nor racism.”
There was also evidence of CRT in the math book, Allen said, because there was “no mention of the Federalist Papers to understand why the Electoral College was established.”
Huh. Okay. So would a digression into the history of the Electoral College change Allen’s mind? Maybe, if they steer clear of mentioning things like the Three-Fifths Compromise. You know, the compromise that was reached because the South wanted slaves to count for representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College, but neither the North nor the South wanted slaves to have the right to vote.
Assistant Professor Carl Clark of River State College, on the other hand, probably limited his review to text actually in the math textbooks, without expecting them to also function as selective history textbooks.
“It is a math textbook. I found no evidence of any instruction or indoctrination of social issues,” Clark wrote after reviewing a high school-level algebra and trigonometry book that was rejected by the state. He confirmed to the Herald Friday that he was a reviewer but declined to comment further.
Supposedly all the reviewers “must meet minimum professional qualifications,” so that presumably each book is given full consideration based on all of the state’s requirements.
Yet some of the reviewers’ reports only mention whether the book under review contains critical race theory, in contrast to other reviewers who applied other criteria than just “wokeness.” I’m guessing Allen is one of the former and Clark one of the latter.
The whole review process remains unclear. One thing’s for sure, though, these dramatics over critical race theory are motivated by political gain, not concern for Florida’s children.
The question “Is our children learning?” is rarely asked because Republican politicians in Florida are far more interested in imposing their views on everyone else.
