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No feelings in math: How Florida is defending its rejection of textbooks

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Math may make many students anxious, frustrated or depressed butFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis insists the subject is not about “feelings.”

That’s how DeSantis is defending his state’s controversial rejection of dozens of math textbooks, many written for the early grades, over the supposed inclusion of critical race theory and social-emotional learning. Despite saying the banished textbooks could potentially “indoctrinate” students, DeSantis and other officials have not detailed any of the specific content that they claim violates Florida state standards.

DeSantis’ administration is instead focused on students’ strong academic performance, he said during . “Math is about getting the right answer … it’s not about how you feel about the problem,” DeSantis said.“We don’t want things like math to have some of these other concepts introduced. It’s not been proven to be effective and, quite frankly, it takes our eye off the ball.”

Out of 132 math textbooks submitted, the Florida Department of Education rejected 54 (41%) for references to critical race theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core and the unsolicited addition of social-emotional learning (SEL) in mathematics, the agency saidFriday in. The textbooks include titles from some of the leading publishers in K-12 education.

The state rejected more than two-thirds of the math textbooks submitted for grades K-5 for not being aligned with Florida’s(B.E.S.T.) standards.

The state’s shows more than two dozen were flagged for including “special topics.” Critical race theory,culturally responsive teaching, social justice and social-emotionallearning are the four items listed in the as special topics.

Florida State Rep.Anna V. Eskamani obtained the list of books and has shared it on social media:

In a related tweet, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, provided an example of objectionable content with a screenshot of a worksheet used, and then yanked, by a Missouri school district. The assignment, which was given to ninth-graders, asked students to solve a list of equations with questions about the life of the African American poet Maya Angelou. The questions refer to sexual abuse and prostitution.


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Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick is the managing editor of District 91心頭istration and a life-long journalist. Prior to writing for District 91心頭istration he worked in daily news all over the country, from the NYC suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's also in a band.

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