When textbook publishers submitted social studies instructional materials for approval by the Florida department of education鈥攆or districts to then purchase with state funds鈥攖hey faced a new, confusing set of rules.
Namely, compared to the last adoption cycle of social studies textbooks in 2016-17, the state now has a law restricting how topics of race and gender can be taught in K-12 schools. Specifications sent to publishers by state officials emphasized the importance of not defying the new law, though they didn鈥檛 provide clear guidelines and definitions, according to some experts.
When state officials initially began approving social studies textbooks for districts to purchase with state funding in April, they could only approve 19 of the 101 submitted titles, according to a press release.
The rest included 鈥渋naccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida law,鈥� officials said.
Since then, the Florida department of education worked with publishers to make edits, resulting in a total of 66 books approved by May 9, with more than 30 rejected. Though not all of the edited Florida textbooks will be found in other states, some experts and state leaders are already concerned about what the state鈥檚 process says about the scope and impact of laws restricting how to teach about race and other topics.
Full details as to what led to the rejections and even the edits made in others remain unclear.
Some rejected titles as including 鈥渟pecial topics鈥� though with not much further detail.
Gateway to Early American History with Revised Civics and Government Standards Advanced, 2022, 1st Edition of Florida Transformative Education appears on the state鈥檚 rejected list though it isn鈥檛 listed as having 鈥渟pecial topics.鈥�
Author and publisher, Mark Jarrett had other submissions approved, but for this one, he said, 鈥淲e have not been asked to remove anything found in this resource. I don鈥檛 believe there was any controversial content at all.鈥�
Jarrett said he plans to resubmit this title for consideration, and cites the following example of the feedback he received from the state:
The state meanwhile provided samples of edited text in other submissions but did not clarify which textbooks they are from, nor provide any additional details.
Here are some of those samples:
