FL Rejects 35% Of Social Studies Textbooks: Department Of Education

FLORIDA — The Florida Department of Education rejected 35 percent of the kindergarten through 12th grade social studies instructional materials submitted by publishers this year, while tweaking others, according to a news release from the department.

Of the textbooks submitted, 66 of 101 have been approved to date, the department said. The list of approved materials includes titles that meet state social studies standards at every grade level.

When submitted materials were initially reviewed, only 19 of 101 textbooks – just 19 percent of the materials - were approved by April 6. The remainder were rejected for “inaccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida Law,” the department said.

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FDE staff worked directly with publishers to update materials to comply with Florida standards.

Changes to one K-5 textbook deemed “not age appropriate” included the removal of a reference to “taking a knee” to protest police brutality in a section about symbols that represent America.

Publishers were also asked to rewrite an “inaccurate description of socialism” and “politically charged language when referencing the Hebrew Bible” in 6-8 textbooks.

Another publisher was forced to remove a section about Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ and the state’s consistent adherence to high quality, rigorous and factual content, Florida continually earns praise as a leader in education, including the recent No. 1 ranking by U.S. News & World Report,” FDE Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. said. “To uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available — materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric.”

The department will continue to work with publishers to revise textbooks to meet the state’s academic criteria. Publishers also have the ability to appeal the state’s decision not to adopt their textbook.