Education

DeSantis’ Office Drags Its Feet Justifying Massive Textbook Rejection

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Chrissy Clark Contributor
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office refused to provide specific examples of critical race theory material in more than 50 mathematics textbooks that they banned, despite several appeals with the Daily Caller.

Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’s spokeswoman, blamed “copyright” that prevented the office from sharing details that might convince the public. Pushaw said that the office plans to share examples when it’s “legally permissible.”

“Governor DeSantis has consistently said … that he would support publicizing examples of indoctrination from these textbooks if and when it becomes legally permissible to share,” the spokeswoman said.

On April 15, the Florida Department of Education announced that Florida rejected 54 of the 132 proposed mathematics textbooks for including “references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusion of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.”

Neither the Florida Department of Education or the Governor’s office provided information regarding which of the 54 textbooks were axed for CRT and SEL or Common Core standards. (RELATED: ‘Prohibited And Divisive’: Here’s Why Florida Rejected 41% Of Math Textbooks)

DeSantis defended the education department’s decision to reject the textbooks, though Pushaw said that the governor’s office is not privy to specifics on which books were rejected. During a press conference, the governor told reporters that textbooks should help kids “learn to think so they get the right answer.”

He went on to say that neither the governor’s office nor the state education department can release examples at this time, citing copyright laws.

“The minute they let [the Department of Education] release [examples], release it. You know, we obviously want people to be able to see that,” DeSantis said. “But yeah, it’s not done by me or [Commissioner Richard Corcoran].”

Several of the publishers listed on the rejected booklist have diversity, equity and inclusion information on their websites.