Math Book Publishers Are Stunned by Florida's 'Indoctrination' Claim
Publishers Left in the Dark and Fighting Back After Florida Rejects Textbooks for “Indoctrination”
(Bloomberg) -- The publishing companies whose textbooks were rejected by the Florida Department of Education say they were stunned by the decision and at least one plans to appeal.
Nearly half of the proposed math texts for the 2022-2023 school year were not approved on the basis that they either did not meet state standards, or touched on prohibited topics like critical race theory or social-emotional learning, a teaching modality that centers empathy.
“We feel we align perfectly to the Florida BEST standards,” said Vincent Forese, president of Link-Systems International, Inc., which publishes an online homework and testing system for middle- and high-school students called Sofia. “The DOE has given no feedback to any submitter to explain why they got the score they did.”
Representatives for Savvas Learning Co. LLC and McGraw-Hill Education Inc. also said it was unclear as to why their materials did not pass muster. A representative for MacMillan Ltd. previously said the company would appeal the decision through the department of education’ internal appeal procedure.
According to the department website, “Publishers may seek to challenge the adoption list or the adoption process,” and “a company has twenty-one (21) days from receipt of the notice within which to request, by written petition, … an opportunity for a hearing.”
Publishers can also present revisions or substitute materials, department press secretary Cassie Palelis said on Monday, adding that this isn’t the first time books have been rejected from the curriculum. “However, it is the first time that 41% of books submitted failed to meet Florida’s lofty standards for math instruction.”
In a press release, the state said 21% of its rejected books contained “unsolicited strategies” like CRT or the common core curriculum, which the state moved away from in February of 2020. Other books were rejected for not meeting Florida’s proprietary learning standards. Only 11 books for students in kindergarten through fifth grade passed the bar; eight of them are published by the company Accelerate Learning.
“Math is about getting the right answer," Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday. “And we want kids to learn to think so they get the right answer. It’s not about how you feel about the problem.”
An organization representing Florida teachers was also frustrated by a perceived lack of clarity on the specific reasons for rejection. “If elementary-level textbooks are rejected for critical race theory or social emotional learning, how about further defining those terms and giving examples of objectionable content?” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.
“It seems politics are interfering with applicants getting any meaningful feedback from the DOE, but once we do we will respond accordingly,” Link-System’s Forese said.
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