Textbook publishers are under scrutiny in the Sunshine State of Florida. Under its “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” certain topics dealing with civil unrest are not allowed to be printed in social studies textbooks taught in public schools.
The Florida Department of Education determines what lessons in history are either a) inaccurate, b) considered an “unsolicited topic, or c) not aligned with the law.
For the upcoming school year, school books aimed to teach civics and social studies will steer clear of topics like the murder of George Floyd, the 2020 summer of civil unrest, Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem, and the Black Lives Matter movement. New laws like the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” have given those in charge of public education more leverage to censor history that highlights abuse to Black and Brown people.
Bryan Griffin, press secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis, tweeted to his constituency that his administration was on the job, shutting down what they consider is the “indoctrination” of Florida’s youth.
“The political indoctrination of children through the K-12 public education system is a very real and prolific problem in this country. All CAUGHT & all FIXED under @GovRonDeSantis’ watch,” he tweeted.
The Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act is believed to be an effort to protect teachers and students by codifying “the Florida Department of Education’s prohibition on teaching critical race theory in K-23 schools” and ensuring school districts, colleges, and universities from hiring CRT consultants.
This is accomplished, according to the Individual Freedoms Act (IFA) passed in Congress in 2022, by “revising requirements for required instruction on the history of African Americans; requiring the department to prepare and offer certain standards and curriculum; authorizing the department to seek input from a specified organization for certain purposes; [and prohibiting] instructional materials reviewers from recommending instructional materials that contain any matter that contradicts certain principles.”
