I can understand rejecting them for "failed to meet curriculum standards", but what does "incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies" really mean? Are there math topics and "stategies" that are illegal in the US/Florida somehow?
I also understand that including critical race theory in math books seems wildly irrelevant (unless I miss something) and therefor not fit for the curriculum. But I'm interested to hear how that happens in the first place? Who includes education about "intersection of race, society, and law" in mathematical books, for what purpose? Shouldn't that belong to some other educational program instead, like society or history classes?
The article is lacking in substance because it does not actually tell you what material in the math books was so egregious that the book deserved to be banned or may be state of Florida did not publish this information. Banning books seems to be the new battle ground for politicians, sigh.
I found more information on the Florida Dept. of Education site: https://www.fldoe.org/academics/standards/instructional-mate...
This appears to be the list of the 132 books submitted for review: https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5574/urlt/2021-22-S...
And this I believe is the list of books that were approved: https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5574/urlt/2122MathA...
It'd be nice if the Florida DoE actually included some examples of the objectional text
With so little information it's not clear what we can discuss.
Floridian here. I've lived here all my life, and DeSantis is the first Governor under whom I have felt that the entire agenda is piss off people who aren't politically aligned with his values. Not a week goes by without some inflammatory new policy making it into the news cycle, and it saddens me because Florida has a ton of problems that we could be collaborating on legislatively, but instead, it's just partisan brinkmanship day in and day out.
I'm a fourth generation Floridian, and I've lived in the state for 42 years. I plan on moving my family out of here sometime in the next few years, as I don't think the future holds anything better here.
This is the first time in US history where a Governor has unilaterally drafted map redistricting an entire state, and it will give the GOP a 4:1 advantage. That's not democracy, it's a rigged system, and removes the will of the people from the equation.
For me, it's not a liberal/conservative issue, it's a representation issue, and an issue of priorities. Basically, I'm tired of the bullshit, and I think there are better places to raise a family, so I'll be taking my talent and tax dollars elsewhere.
I would be curious if anyone has a high quality link containing real examples that were deemed offensive. My guess is the textbooks had sections that involved quantitatively examining "social justice" issues. I'm not for or against this in a math textbook, but it definitely gives an opportunity to "spin" the situation by massively simplifying the problem discussed, which opens the door to politicization.
From Rep. Anna V. Eskamani / Florida elected representative.
Books accepted https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5574/urlt/2122MathA...
Books rejected https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5574/urlt/2021-22-S...
https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida/status/151603980914330009...
Soon they will loop back around to banning / modifying the teaching of evolutionary theory like some tried in the recent past because of "religious" reasons.
This is a really useless news story. Couldn't they do a little legwork and figure out which books were rejected? I'd really like to see what material was in these math books. I'm guessing the rejection is some level of overreaction, but it's hard to say how much without knowing what's being rejected.
I guess, differential equations should not be used in the formulation of "institutional dynamics."
Does the Florida DOE have a set of guidelines for how they determine if material is inappropriate for students? Seems like if the Government is going to make decisions for the people they should at least have an idea on what grounds these decisions are made upon.
What's the over-under on how long it takes for this thread to devolve into mud-slinging?
They haven't listed the books banned or given examples of the content they find objectionable. Until they do this is just political theatre that relies on peoples imaginations to fill in the blanks.
It might be worth recalling Richard Feynman's old story about being part of the California textbook selection process - a process so profoundly dysfunctional and corrupt that Dr. Feynman may have been the only member of the evaluation committee who actually read a meaningful percentage of the textbooks which they were passing judgement on.
(No, I see nothing in NPR's story to suggest that they compared Florida's stated reasons for rejecting various textbooks with the actual contents of the textbooks.)
Can someone simply explain what is this critical race theory?
I'd like to see some concrete examples... but if it's truly in there -- good for them! It has absolutely no reason to be in a math textbook.
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Such news stories add credence to the idea that the web + social media have been a universal solvent for societies. Especially democratic societies.
Three decades ago, such a move would have been an eyebrow raising 2 to 5 minute news story on the evening news. Or, mentioned in a tiny column in the newspaper on some page. Most people wouldn't have come into contact with it. Let alone with such vigor that it led to an us v. them dynamic. It would have been a somewhat pointless gesture that would have been quickly forgotten.
Editorial discretion would have pulled to something more "important" such as Presidents pressuring interns into sexual activity.
Today, due to the attentional nature of the internet, the same story is quite attractive. No matter what your stance, you click on it, at least once, because it's bizarre. It's distilled catnip. On HN as well.
People and machines notice that you're clicking on it. So people start talking about it on social media. Which you engage with. And so more of it is served to you by the machines looped in. On and on until you spend an hour or more of your life on a topic you probably wouldn't have touched or known about thirty years ago.
The emotional valence created by the issue is overpowering as compared to the past, and it's self-sustaining. Forever propagating through the intellectual wastelands we're self-curating.
Humans have been dying on pointless hills for thousands of years. But our technology has amplified it to quite an art form.