(CNN) — Florida education officials have released four images from some of the math textbooks the state rejected this month, citing what they said were references to critical race theory or other “prohibited” topics.
The state Department of Education last week rejected 54 of 132 math textbooks publishers had submitted. The books did not comply with its Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standards or were rejected for including critical race theory (CRT), social emotional learning (SEL) and more, it said.
Some conservative groups claim critical race theory and social emotional learning are used to indoctrinate students.
Among the images released this week from books the state said were not adopted are references to “racial prejudice” and SEL. Which books they’re from and their full context isn’t clear.
Department spokesperson Cassie Palelis did not identify the books and referred CNN to the agency website showing “a few examples” that were “received from the public.” It’s unclear exactly what the specific concerns were with the four examples.
“At this time, those who have submitted textbooks for consideration still own the material (i.e. their content is copyrighted and we are unable to release it to the public at this time, pending review),” she wrote.
The examples mention “measuring racial prejudice” and the “Implicit Association Test.”
Another says the “SEL Objective” is to help students “build proficiency with social awareness as they practice with empathizing with classmates.”
The fourth includes a word or phrase that has been redacted. It also says, “This feature is designed to build student agency by focusing on students’ social and emotional learning.”
The images were posted with a disclaimer that reads, in part: “These examples do not represent an exhaustive list of input received by the Department. The Department is continuing to give publishers the opportunity to remediate all deficiencies identified during the review to ensure the broadest selection of high quality instructional materials are available to the school districts and Florida’s students.”
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SEL helps students “develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions,” the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning says.
More than a dozen states have set standards for teaching SEL in grade schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But as more states consider SEL strategies, conservative groups have claimed critical race theory is embedded in it.
Opponents argue CRT is based on Marxism and is a threat to the American way of life. But scholars who study it say it explores how a history of inequality and racism impact American society today.
Florida officials want to “focus the education on the actual strong academic performance of the students,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.
“We don’t want things like math to have, you know, some of these other concepts introduced. It’s not been proven to be effective, and quite frankly, it takes our eye off the ball,” the governor told reporters at a news conference.
Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, called for transparency on how the state’s department of education made the decision, including examples of “objectionable” content and details about those who reviewed the textbooks and their qualifications.
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