Overcast under threat of rain near-noon Thursday here in California’s Central Valley — although no precipitation the last couple of hours, forecast is for supposedly ‘heavy rain’ this afternoon.
Time will tell, however.
A resident of California now 40 years last month, I was a southern guy in my youth, especially spent a big chunk of my formative years in Florida, a place so currently shitty it’s hard to even recognize as once being wondrous and hospitable.
Last Friday in one of the most-idiotic, lopsided bullshit calls by Ron DeSantis’ asshole administration, the state’s Department of Education announced the banning of 26 math books because they held forth on “prohibited topics,” such as CRT and SEL (Social-Emotional Learning). CRT (Critical Race Theory) is a GQP hot topic — how the shit does race have to do with math?
Despite not providing any examples of this shit, DeSantis blubbered earlier this week: ‘“It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students.”‘
Yet it’s a lie like shit tossed into the wind:
DeSantis banned these textbooks: "There was no discussion of race, racism, or anything that could be construed as related to CRT in any of the textbooks … In general, the textbooks encouraged young students to be nice to each other and themselves."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2022
Empty of value and full of shit — from Popular Information this morning:
Popular Information, however, has obtained 8 of the 26 math textbooks rejected by Florida for “prohibited topics,” including textbooks for elementary, middle, and high school students. We then scrutinized these textbooks for any mention of race, emotion, or related topics.
What we found bears no resemblance to the alarming assertions of Florida officials.According to the Florida Department of Education, “the highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where an alarming 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.”
Popular Information obtained three of the K-5 books that were rejected for “prohibited topics.”There was no discussion of race, racism, or anything that could be construed as related to CRT in any of the textbooks.
While the vast majority of the textbooks focused on basic math skills, they also encouraged students to reflect on how they learn and work with their classmates.
In general, the textbooks encouraged young students to be nice to each other and themselves.This could be considered SEL, which focuses on “social and emotional competence” and helping “children develop emotional literacy when it comes to their feelings and other people’s.”
But nothing in any of the rejected textbooks could be described in good faith as “dangerous” or “indoctrination.”One rejected textbook, Florida Reveal Math Grade 1, includes a series of questions under the heading “Math is… Mindset.” These questions include: “How can you show that you value the ideas of others?” and “What helps you understand your partner’s ideas?”
The book also encourages students to learn how to “work together” when doing math and to “listen to our friends and teachers.”
Florida Reveal Math Grade 5, which was also rejected, uses similar prompts to encourage students to think critically about how they work with others in the classroom setting. “When we do math, we listen to the arguments of others and think about what makes sense and what doesn’t,” the book states in the introduction.
Other prompts encourage critical thinking and highlight relationship skills, such as: “What can I learn from others’ thinking about the problem?” and “What can you do to help all classmates feel comfortable in math class?”
The textbook encourages students to think about how they can “recognize and respond to the emotions of others” and practice building “relationship[s]” with classmates.
Popular Information also obtained a copy of another rejected textbook for elementary students, enVision Florida B.E.S.T. Mathematics Grade 1.
The textbook includes a section entitled “Learn Together” which outlines the importance of “shar[ing] your ideas,” “valu[ing] ideas from others,” and “listen[ing] with an open mind.”
Go read the entire piece, it’s in-depth and lists just what those books reveal, which is nothing bad, but all good. The main characteristic is sharing and having empathy with others. There’s the bottom line: DeSantis and Republicans are against loving one another unless they’re white and GQPers.
Sad and irritating about Florida, a place where I spent many years of my youth. I grew up on the Panhandle, graduated high school and junior college there, and later from the University of Florida. Freakin’ shame. Although born in SE Alabama, I always considered myself a Floridian, but no more (not freakin’ Alabama, either). Perv-asshole Matt Gaetz now represents my old, youthful stomping ground — shit shame of a turnaround.
Even with a sunshine/sunset state of mind, here we are once again…
(Illustration out front: Edvard Munch‘s ‘The Scream,’ lithograph version, found here)