Changes made after textbooks taught ‘inaccurate’ socialism description, kneeling during national anthem
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida Department of Education released examples of initially rejected Social Studies curriculum submitted to the state.
Those examples included instruction on teaching K-5 graders about kneeling during the national anthem to “protest police brutality and racism.” Other excerpts described socialism as keeping “things nice and even.”
Since the initial review, the department said it worked with publishers to make changes, leading to a total of 66 textbooks being added to the state adoption list.
“To uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available – materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric, in education, including the recent number one ranking by U.S. News & World Report,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. said.
The department released the K-12 social studies instructional materials, which includes 66 out of 101 submitted materials approved to date.
When the materials were initially submitted, the department said only 19 out of 101 materials were approvable “due to inaccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida law,” according to the department.
Department of Education highlights examples of rejected material
The Florida Department of Education noted a K-5 textbook that initially suggested parents talk to their child about why some citizens “‘Take a Knee’ to protest police brutality and racism” during the national anthem.
The department said the excerpt was “not age appropriate” and the publisher modified those sentences.
The state said another textbook for 6-8 grades provided an “inaccurate” description of socialism.
The example initially described socialism as keeping things “nice and even without unnecessary waste.”
The explanation continued to say socialism “may promote greater equality among people while still providing a fully functioning government-supervised economy.”
The changed version defined “planned economies” versus a “mixed economy.” The textbook’s modification said “planned economies” is described as the government controlling the means of production, which “have slow development and fewer technological advances because they move slowly around planning and approval.”
“In other words, why do anything if the government is eventually going to do it for you? There’s no reason, since you aren’t going to profit any more than anyone else,” the new version said.
A textbook for 9-12 graders initially referred to Cuba and China as having “so-called communist governments.”
The department said the text “implies that real communism does not exist and paints an inaccurate picture of communism.”
Changes were made to them as “communist governments” and describe the “corruption, poor quality products, and shortages” as frequently occurring.
Another example for 6-8 Grades included “unsolicited topics” about “new calls for social justice,” according to the department.
The section described social media spreading images of “police violence…. against Black Americans.” The paragraph said it led to an awareness of “systemic racism that permeated the broader society” and the creation of Black Lives Matter.
The department said there was “politically charged language when referencing the Hebrew Bible” in an excerpt for Grades 6-8.
The textbook asked “what social justice issues are included in the Hebrew Bible?”
The sentence was changed to “What are some of the key principles included in the Hebrew Bible?”
The department said it would continue to work with publishers to include as many textbooks on the state adoption list as possible. Publishers are able to submit revisions.
“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ and the state’s consistent adherence to high quality, rigorous and factual content, Florida continually earns praise as a leader in education, including the recent number one ranking by U.S. News & World Report,” Diaz said.
