Many questions and few answers on math textbook ban
On the website of Houston-based Accelerate Learning is a group photo of young people, lined up and holding hands. The hands are black and white. “Our nation’s black communities have long faced the repeated, harmful effects of systemic racism within the justice and education systems,” Accelerate Learning says. “Recent events coupled with the Black Lives Matter movement have brought these issues to the forefront, causing individuals, companies and the nation as a whole to reflect on and examine their own role in the system. As a company, we support nonviolent actions to raise awareness and support systemic changes that correct these injustices.”
The company matches employee contributions to Black Lives Matter and the NAACP and says it is “committed to supporting diversity in all its manifestations.”
Those words appear to conflict with the letter and spirit of a new Florida law that targets what Gov. Ron DeSantis calls “woke” companies. Under the governor’s definition, the “systemic racism” remark comes dangerously close to echoing critical race theory, which Florida has banned.
Yet Accelerate Learning first emerged as the only publisher whose math textbooks are suitable for Florida’s public elementary schools. This week, the department added another. Ironically, the Department of Education banned textbooks from Accelerate Learning’s competitors because they supposedly push what DeSantis calls racial “indoctrination.”
Just a coincidence?
So is the near-monopoly for Accelerate Learning just an ironic coincidence? That might be plausible, but little that happens with DeSantis and education is a coincidence.
Example: On April 21, DeSantis recommended that state Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, succeed Richard Corcoran as education commissioner. Approval by the Board of Education will be a formality.
Diaz’s appointment has long been an open secret. Corcoran announced his resignation nearly two months ago.
So did DeSantis just happen to pick that day to make it official? Or did the governor wait until Diaz had voted to approve DeSantis’ gerrymandered congressional map and to abolish Disney World’s self-governing district?
With DeSantis, there are no coincidences. It has been nearly two weeks since the Department of Education ambushed school districts on Good Friday with news that it had banned roughly 40% of K-5 math textbooks. Some districts had ordered the books — having heard no reason why they shouldn’t — and now are in limbo with deadlines for next school year bearing down on them.
“We’re scrambling,” said Palm Beach County Superintendent Mike Burke. “We’re going to do what we need to do to support our schools. But I want to point out that, often, we could use some guidance from the Florida Department of Education and we don’t always get that in a timely manner.”
Too few answers
Indeed. DeSantis and Corcoran have refused to release the complete list of banned books and explain why the state banned them. They have not said whether the decision will mean higher costs for school districts. They have not explained why some books went from acceptable to unacceptable so quickly. The secrecy and absence of candor fuels suspicion.
According to Accelerate Learning, the company’s STEM-scopes math textbooks were “built from the ground up to Florida’s Benchmark for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards using the flexible 5E lesson model.” It is designed to foster collaborative learning between student and teacher.
One assumes, however, that every publisher favors such an approach and has studied Florida’s standards. So did Accelerate Learning offer something unique? Did the company have a competitive edge?
In 2018, the private equity firm Carlyle Group bought Accelerate Learning. Carlyle has nearly $300 billion of assets under management.
At the time, Glenn Youngkin was co-CEO of Carlyle Group. Youngkin became the Republican governor of Virginia last November by using the same “parental rights” demagoguery that DeSantis has leveled against public schools in Florida.
Youngkin still has holdings in Carlyle Group, part of his roughly $450 million personal fortune. Though his assets are in a blind trust, critics have noted that Virginia’s ethics laws are among the weakest of any state. More coincidences.
Dispel deep suspicions
DeSantis and Corcoran could dispel these deep suspicions with a detailed, transparent explanation of the textbook review process. Neither has indicated that one will be coming.
Don’t expect the Board of Education to demand answers. One of DeSantis’ two recent appointees, Esther Byrd, has expressed support for the Jan. 6 insurrection. The other, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, is a Miami radiologist who’s listed as an assistant scholar for an organization that opposes abortion rights. Neither has a credible background in education.
Meanwhile, the campaign against supposedly unsuitable school library books continues. Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers took the absurd step of investigating whether making certain books available amounted to a crime. It didn’t.
Nothing about the math textbook decisions makes sense. Unless DeSantis and Corcoran reveal much more and soon, the public’s suspicions will be justified — and that’s no coincidence.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick and El Sentinel Editor Jennifer Marcial Ocasio. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Anderson. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com.