Florida DOE releases examples of prohibited material in math textbooks, but questions remain

The Florida Department of Education has released these four photos it cites as examples of the content found in math textbooks it rejected last week for containing prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies.

Twenty-eight of the 54 textbooks rejected by the department were listed under the reasoning of prohibited subjects such as Common Core and Critical Race Theory.

STORY: Florida rejects 41% of new math textbooks, claiming Common Core and CRT as cause

The department states the list is not ‘exhaustive’, but at this time are not releasing any others.

According to the department, they state it is due to the content of the textbooks being copyrighted, making new images for release be withheld until after the review process is complete.

The four examples were released because they were provided to the department by members of the public.

The examples include a graph showing racial prejudice broken down by age and another by political affiliation, as well as a paragraph beginning with the words, ‘What? Me? Racist?’.

“They’re probably not very representative of what’s in every textbook. They’re probably the ‘worst examples’,” said Jeremy Young with PEN America.

PEN America is a national organization dedicated to free expression and free speech in education.

STORY: Florida Department of Education provides examples from math textbooks rejected due to CRT

Young argues the examples provided by the department leave more questions than answers.

“We still don’t know why the vast majority of these textbooks were rejected, including six textbooks on this list which according to the rubric released with the list should have been accepted,” said Young.

It is also not clear which books the examples came from, as the images do not list a publisher or title.

Action News Jax has asked the department to clarify this information but has received no response at this time.

“I don’t think the state was prepared for this level of scrutiny,” said Young.

Young stated how he sees the whole situation as a precursor for what is to come, especially now that the governor has signed into law legislation banning concepts of Critical Race Theory not only in the classroom but also inside of diversity training.

“Look, if math textbooks are being treated as a political football, imagine what they’re going to do with social studies,” said Young.

The department has indicated it will work to release more examples ‘if and when it can do so’.

When that might be, is anybody’s guess.

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