Florida rejects 71% of K-5 math textbook submissions

FLORIDA– The Florida Department of Education has rejected 41 percent of the math textbooks submitted for adoption because they are impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history, said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran last week.

The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) said in a press release.

Corcoran said reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.

The rejected textbooks are not named.

Despite rejecting 41 percent of materials submitted, every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook, the FDOE said.

Overall, Florida is initially not including 54 of the 132 (41 percent) submitted textbooks on the state’s adopted list. Here is the full breakdown, according to the FDOE:

• 78 of 132 total submitted textbooks are included on the state’s adopted list.
• 28 (21 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT.
• 12 (9 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards.
• 14 (11 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards and incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT.
• Grades K-5: 71 percent of materials were rejected.
• Grades 6-8: 20 percent of materials were rejected.
• Grades 9-12: 35 percent of materials were rejected.

In 2021, the FDOE called for bids from publishers to submit proposed mathematics instructional materials to be included on the state’s adopted list.