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It’s no secret that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying the groundwork for a presidential run. For liberal parents in other states dusting off their pink hats, they’d be better served keeping an eye on the textbooks their local school boards are considering in the next few years. Because, in many cases, DeSantis and his allies in Florida could be effectively picking the reading lists from afar.https://time.assistpub.com/display.html?_otarOg=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com&_cpub=AAX5DN745&_csvr=042813_364&_cgdpr=1&_cgdprconsent=0&_cusp_status=0&_ccoppa=0
You see, in 20 states, officials in the state capitol pick what will be taught in local classrooms, down to the words on page, in exchange for fully funded book orders. That gives states with huge caches of students tremendous sway in what options are available in other states. Publishers are businesses; they chase the biggest markets. The publishers don’t have incentives to create Red State textbooks and Blue State textbooks. States and districts with huge checks can seek specific line edits while, with no disrespect for the roughly 70,000 students in D.C. public schools, Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee cannot compel massive publishers to do the same on a matching scale. That’s why DeSantis is set to be the de facto arbiter of what millions of students—even outside of Florida—are learning. It is all in the name of keeping the kids safe from wokeness masquerading as math.
For years, publishers catered to the two giants, California and Texas. The New York Times in 2020 published an eye-opening and detailed comparison of one publisher’s telling of the American story—by the same authors—and found two very different versions of the country’s history based on in what state a student took social studies. For instance, The Times found a publisher inserted into a discussion of the Harlem Renaissance an observation that critics “dismissed the quality of the literature produced” for Texas audiences. In earlier Texas versions dating to 2014, Moses was listed among the Founding Fathers’ influences.
It was long assumed that publishers would adapt to chase California’s 6.5 million students and Texas’ 5.5 million. (Nationally, 51 million students are enrolled in K-12 public schools.) Florida has long had on the books an official list of approved textbooks for its 2.9 million students, but it was easy enough for publishers to make minor tweaks and repurpose the Texas books for Florida audiences. After all, sympathy for the NRA translates easily from Houston to Pensacola, as The New York Times’ Gail Collins found in a separate project.
This behind-the-scenes effort at indoctrinating students into their states’ mythologies is now pushing into public view, with DeSantis crowing about his fight to shape young minds. Even Texas’ conservative textbook would be insufficient for DeSantis. The figure who is seen as a strong contender in 2024—especially if former President Donald Trump ends up sitting out the race—gathered reporters on Monday to promote the fact that his state education department rejected 42 of 132 textbooks proposed for the next school year.
