The announcement said the list of rejected books made up about 41% of submissions, the largest in Florida history. Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to critical race theory, “common core inclusions and the spontaneous addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) to mathematics,” the statement said. Critical racial theory has been politicized in recent years, with opponents arguing that the study area is based on Marxism and is a threat to the American way of life. But scholars who study it say that critical race theory explores the ways in which a history of inequality and racism in the United States continues to affect American society today. Florida banned the teaching of critical race theory in schools in June 2021. At the time, Governor Ron Desantis said that by allowing critical race theory in schools, children would be taught that “the country is rotten and our institutions are rotten.” it is illegal “. According to the ban, teaching in schools must be “real and objective”. It specifically bans “theories that distort historical facts” – including “the teaching of critical race theory, which means the theory that racism is not just a product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems to support the supremacy of white persons “. Florida also banned teaching materials from the 1619 Project, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times project to refine American history around August 1619, when the first slave ship arrived off the coast of America. The highest number of books rejected was for K-5 levels, where the “worrying” 71% did not conform to Florida standards or did not include banned topics, the statement said. Despite the rejection of 41% of the materials submitted, each core math course and grade is covered by at least one textbook, the announcement said. In a statement, DeSantis said he was grateful for the thorough review by these textbooks department to ensure they comply with the law. “It seems that some publishers have tried to throw paint on an old house built on the foundations of Common Core and concepts such as racial essentialism, especially, strangely, for elementary school students,” the governor said. CNN’s Leah Asmelash contributed to this report.
