The teaching standards have again thrust Florida and DeSantis into Americas politically polarized fight over how and what to teach children. This rule is wrong at its core because it attacks transgender students, faculty and staff, a Central Florida mother opposed to it said at the meeting. He's coming for your state next. In one training session, Black Lives Matter was held up as an exemplary movement and students were prepared for the possibility of violent confrontation with the police. Copyright 2023 WMFE. But moving beyond reflexive partisanship, there is a strong argument for abolishing D.E.I. We asked 7 Florida recruits why they left the state. Now they're . Education, schools news | FLORIDA TODAY as a step toward meritocracy, while the left sees it as an attack on minority rights. "For the folks in the media and in the teachers union who are watching, we want you to please pay close attention because you've been peddling really a false narrative," Burns said. Florida's recently approved history standards teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it provided them with useful skills. Florida and its governor, GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, have been in the news much of the past year because of steps taken in addressing what DeSantis calls a "woke" agenda and liberal indoctrination in the classroom.DeSantis signed legislation last year directing the Florida Board of Education to set new standards, which . Harris personally made the decision to take a last-minute trip to Jacksonville on Friday in response to the Florida Board of Education approving new standards for teaching Black history, a White House official said, confirming a detail that was first reported by Politico. The governor revamped school curriculum in Florida amid battles with Democrats and civil rights groups. The University of Central Florida, in its Inclusive Faculty Hiring guide, described merit in faculty hiring as a narrative myth and advised employees to avoid using it in job descriptions and hiring materials. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File), FILE - President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. In addition, we have seen the inclusion of Asian Americans and Pacific islanders to the social studies standards, which as a former social studies teacher, that's wonderful. K-12 students will be required to use bathrooms and pronouns that align with the gender they were assigned at birth starting July 1. 07/24/2023 04:48 PM EDT. And others have noted inaccuracies in videos claiming that Europe is committing suicide by allowing mass migration, that whiteness and conservatism are under attack and more. Holmes Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, told reporters Monday at an event condemning the teaching standards. State Rep. Anna Eskamani spoke against the new rules and said they would be harmful to the families of LGBTQ students. The White House official said traveling to Jacksonville was about calling out what is happening in clear terms in Florida and across the country; underscoring that this was not just about Black history, but about preserving American history; about showing up and fighting back; and, reminding parents, teachers, students, and the people of Florida that they are not fighting alone.". For City Journal, the magazine of the Manhattan Institute, I recently conducted investigative reporting for a series on the ideological nature of the way D.E.I. Civil rights leaders, activists, address Florida education standards TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Florida officials are digging in and defending the states new standards for teaching Black history amid continued widespread criticism on Monday, including threats of possible legal action from a group of civil and religious leaders. So lets reject the notion that we would deny all of this in terms of our history. In the wake of the Supreme Courts decision in the Harvard and University of North Carolina affirmative action cases, there is more need than ever for clear policies. This appears to be a binary left-right conflict. The departments have a number of tools. Paul Gottfried in 2017 wrote pinned a story inThe American Conservativelambasting PragerU presenter Dinesh DSouza for claiming that fascism was a left-wing idea. CNN Just days after 22 states filed a lawsuit fighting the new US Department of Agriculture policy seeking to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,. Its time we let kids be kids by ensuring schools remain what they were meant to be in the first placeplaces of education not indoctrination, Brevard County Schools teacher Matthew Woodside said. This means that if you are a teacher in Florida, you cannot be fired for using PragerU content.. Diaz said the move would protect kids from unwelcome influences and indoctrination," praising DeSantis, the legislation, and the board for what he described in a statement as their unwavering commitment to the health, wellbeing and safety of our students. But, as critics charged, the rules constituted an escalation in the politically-motivated war on parents, students, and educators in Florida. And the answer, according to the best available evidence, appears to be no. Civic groups like theSouthern Poverty Law Centerand the Anti-Defamation League have also criticized PragerUs videos, describing some as a dog whistle to the extreme right and filled with anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric., Kamala Harris takes aim at Florida teaching standard, calls for action, Vice President Kamala Harris called Florida's new teaching standard of African American history said "an attempt to gaslight us. Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, pointed to the same part of the standards and called it "such an insult.". Tampa, Fla. Every week, Gov. The new teaching standards have again thrust Florida and Ron DeSantis into Americas politically polarized fight over how and what to teach children. The document has been edited to display only the African American history section, the entire document can be found here. The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. / CBS/News Service of Florida. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Demonstrators protest Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plan to eliminate Advanced Placement courses on African American studies in high schools as they stand outside . Also, teachers wont be able to discuss gender and sexuality in class, parents will be able to opt kids out of sex-ed and more easily challenge books, and every family will qualify for a voucher to attend a private or charter school. Douglas . The Florida Department of Education, as one defense, listed 16 examples of historic figures they say developed highly specialized trades that benefitted them after slavery, although several critics noted some people listed as examples were never enslaved. These two proposals would honor the principles of liberal education, encourage a culture of open debate and cultivate a community of scholars with a wide diversity of opinions and a shared commitment to truth something that both liberals and conservatives can and should support. initiatives, which included, as part of a professional development conference, a presentation featuring material that declared the United States was rooted in white supremacy and included mantras from Racists Anonymous. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The News Service of Florida contributed to this report. Speaking with reporters later Friday, DeSantis appeared to try and distance himself from the curriculum changes while also defending the new standards. Ron DeSantis is downplaying the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File), FILE - Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., speaks with reporters about police reform, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 7, 2023. At a press conference Friday, Gov. ICYMI: Governor Ron DeSantis Highlights . (Manny Diaz, Florida's education commissioner, praised the changes, saying that this is something that is going to set the norm for standards in other states.). Abandoning D.E.I. D.E.I. Florida and its governor, GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, have been in the news much of the past year because of steps taken in addressing what DeSantis calls a woke agenda and liberal indoctrination in the classroom.DeSantis signed legislation last year directing the Florida Board of Education to set new standards, which resulted in the recent curriculum changes that say enslaved people benefited from skills that they learned. News. For example, the kindergarten standards focus on teaching students about important historical figures. Education Texas case could help determine fate of Florida gun law on sales to people under 21 By Jim Saunders July 24, 2023 at 2:22 p.m. A pending U.S. Supreme Court case could help decide the. These are not neutral programs to increase demographic diversity; they are political programs that use taxpayer resources to advance a specific partisan orthodoxy. In May, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for the Florida, calling the state openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals., The group also rebuked the updated Black history curriculum, emphasizing the importance of students learning that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history.. 2023. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, said in addition to leaning on federal government, there is a grassroots effort underway in Florida to let parents know their rights and how to protect their children and what they are being taught. They will end up promoting diversity in name only, as activism replaces scholarship and the rationale for the university slowly disappears. It was not anything that was done politically. To that end, the DeSantis administration has leaned on statements from two Black members of the history workgroup to defend the standards and swat away naysayers. Among the other agenda items were topics that included student pronouns and bathroom choices. Under this new rule, students will not learn the fullness of folks like Bayard Rustin or Sally Ride, said one Florida educator opposed to the new rules. But those answers and explanations are doing little to quell opponents, who claim the standards are Florida whitewashing history lessons. PragerUs website provides users with access to its educational videos but does little to shed light on what specific key concepts it hopes to instill through its curriculum. Education board approves controversial standards for teaching Black history. ICYMI: Governor Ron DeSantis Approves Record Increase in Teacher Pay and Signs the Nation's Most Comprehensive Package of Legislation to Support Teachers. Horsford is joined by, from left, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo. 11/30/2022 04:30 AM EST. Gov. Ron DeSantis displaying the signed Parental Rights in Education, aka the Don't Say Gay bill, flanked by elementary school students during a news conference on March 28, 2022. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. Updates to the African American history curriculum were required by a controversial 2022 law that Gov. A roundup of Florida education news from around the state. Zo Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News. What the new rules say. Will Florida high schools offer AP psychology? Gay people are more than our sex lives in the same way heterosexual people are., The board also approved the prohibition of using pronouns outside of a students biological sex in schools. FPES members consist of daily and weekly newspapers throughout the state of Florida. After an acrimonious legislative session with a spate of education bills that saw fierce pushback from students and faculty, Florida was deemed the No. When universities have deviated from the wishes of the public, political intervention is not only lawful, but also necessary to ensure democratic governance. If you need help with the Public File, call 407-291-6000. The Congressional Black Caucus is asking the White House and Justice and Education departments to look into whether Florida school districts are in compliance with federal law in the aftermath of a variety of changes in the state from banning some books to a recent decision to add language about the positive impacts of slavery. Florida education officials pass new rules for schools. Here's what By We will be better if we remember.. Support WUSF now by giving monthly, or make a one-time donation online. Stop turning our kids classrooms into political battlefields to score cheap points, Solomon continued. These are the Florida education bills that will become law on July 1 ", "But I think I think what theyre doing is, I think that theyre probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being ablacksmithinto, into doing things later in life," he continued, referring to enslaved people. Is All This Amateur Therapy-Speak Just Making Us Lonelier? We have seen that our schools have been hijacked by the left. Public universities and colleges also won't be able to fund DEI initiatives starting this weekend. Florida schools OK use of curriculum by PragerU, an unaccredited right-wing nonprofit. Denying pronouns and eliciting fear and making everyone afraid is not going to give you more cisgender kids, it is going to give you more dead queer kids, said a person opposed to the new rules. Chris Christie, who both publicly lambasted the new standards. We have 12 or 11 organizers working every day in central Florida, he said. Black lawmakers press Justice and Education - Associated Press News ORLANDO, Fla. Supporters and critics filled a meeting Wednesday as the Florida Board of Education gathered to approve new rules for the upcoming school year. ORLANDO, Fla. - Supporters and critics filled a meeting Wednesday as the . Ron DeSantis supports the rule changes and spoke about them at a presidential campaign event in South Carolina earlier this week. The Florida Department of Education is gearing up to begin crafting rules to carry out a number of measures approved by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Rankings: Education - States With the Best Education - U.S. News Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he signs bills into law during a press conference at Cambridge Christian School, 6101 North Habana Avenue, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Tampa. If they arent willing to do this, they they should find a different vocation in a state with similar values of their own, like California and New York, another supporter said. Ron DeSantis's Florida Board of Education: Hey, What About the Universities require competent administrators, but their role is to support the scholarly mission of the university, not use it as a vehicle for their favored political interests. As of this writing, the five videos showcased under the Most Popular 5-Minute Videos tag include Do You Understand the Electoral College, Was the Civil War About Slavery, The Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party, Why I Left the Left and War on Boys., Florida's new Black history standards: Are Florida's new Black history standards as bad as critics claim? Ron DeSantis, who earlier this year blocked an advanced placement African American studies course from being taught to high schoolers in his state, blasted Harris' visit in a statement on Twitter. There is no reason to believe that similar programs on university campuses have better outcomes. Horsford said Thursday that what is happening in Florida highlights what many caucus members see as an attack on the rights of Black Americans across the country. Harris said. Some, such as civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, fear that other states will be emboldened by Floridas standards and enact similar policies. Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, pointed to part of the middle-school standards that would require instruction to include "how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.". All rights reserved. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing Ron DeSantis and his supporters in the Legislature., He said faculty and students deserved the credit, but instead the state treated them like criminals.. One part of the high-school standards directs students to describe "the contributions of Africans to society, science, poetry, politics, oratory, literature, music, dance, Christianity and exploration in the United States from 1776-1865.". Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis Friday for conflating the lawmaker's criticism of Florida's controversial new education standards with remarks from Vice President . PragerU believes that American schools are indoctrinating students who are being taught radical ideas about critical race theory, systemic racism, gender fluidity, anti-Americanism and that math is racist. News and information about Florida's Schools. The states pre-K-12 system ranked No. Here are the complete revised social studies academic standards for Florida. It's inaccurate and a scary standard for us to establish in our educational curriculum," Eskamani said. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Read Florida's controversial African American history school standards 12. The Florida Education Association, a statewide teachers' union representing about 150,000 teachers, called the new standards "a disservice to Florida's students and are a big step backward. Several current and former students also came out to Wednesdays meeting and were pleading with the board to reconsider. DeSantis expanded his Dont Say Gay law this year, and the Florida Board of Education voted Wednesday for rules that took it even further including by barring teachers from asking students their preferred pronouns. Blue states such as California and Oregon have recently transformed their public universities with expansive diversity, equity and inclusion programs that have profound implications for admissions, speech, hiring and scholarship. Florida Gov. PragerU curriculum will be allowed in Florida schools, but what is it? July 19 Education New College of Florida struggles through overhaul Education A popular St. Petersburg preschool is closing. In practice, they often restrict the range of discourse, push a narrow political ideology on the campus community and micromanage the language that professors, administrators and students should use. The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing the White House, Justice Department and the Department of Education to adopt an aggressive legal strategy to scrutinize recent changes to Floridas Black history curriculum. Ron DeSantis defended the curriculum as "factual," telling a CNN reporter, "They're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into, into doing things later in life. The caucus wants the federal agencies to examine whether Florida school districts are violating federal discrimination law following changes to the curriculum in the state from banning books covering racial themes to a recent decision to add language about the positive impacts of slavery. These programs have become commonplace not only in official diversity and inclusion programs, but also throughout administrative and academic departments. Department of Education Announces the 2024 Florida Teacher of the Year Finalists. Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a public policy think tank, and the author of Americas Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything.. Florida Board of Education approves controversial standards for The report stated that the average Floridian graduated from college with around $5,000 less in student debt and the high school graduation rate was about 4 percentage points higher than the national average. Florida Gov. DSouza claimed that it could be proven that it was a leftist idea by examining the political writings of Mussolinis court philosopher Giovanni Gentile. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event in Iowa July 14. new African American studies curriculum standards. Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget it. A version of this article appears in print on, D.E.I. "When you look at the history currently, it suggests that the massacre was sparked by violence from African Americans. I can confidently say that the DOE and the task force believe that African American history is American history, and thats represented in those standards., Also on Friday, Vice-President Kamala Harris spoke in Jacksonville about the curriculum she said would "replace history with lies." Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. PragerU was founded in 2009 by Allen Estrin and conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager. ", Are Florida's new Black history standards as bad as critics claim? programs at the center of academic life are eroding the environment of open, substantive debate that is the basic prerequisite for classical liberal learning. The University of Florida, for example, managed more than 1,000 separate D.E.I. One that will require schools to provide menstrual products for students. Now were actually making turnkey curriculum. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Ron DeSantis and his White House ambitions, specifically targeting the new standards that require middle schoolers to be instructed that slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.. All rights reserved. Some commentators have claimed that Mr. DeSantiss legislation amounts to a restriction on freedom of speech; others have asserted that it violates the autonomy of public universities.
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