TAMPA, Fla. — Social studies academic standards in Florida will continue teaching students that aspects of slavery ‘benefited’ Black people.
The Florida Board of Education approved a 217-page document with some changes to the state’s standards in public schools but didn’t include a revision to a controversial standard that received heavy backlash last year.
The document reads, “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills, which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
This isn’t a new standard
Last year, the State Board of Education approved the standards that would teach middle schoolers this lesson, and it received criticism from teachers and government officials across the state and country.
The leader of the Florida Education Association, Andrew Spar, criticized the board for not reversing the sixth-grade African American history standard on Wednesday.
“That is a concern, as well as making sure that our students have a complete and honest history around both the African American experience and all experiences in our country,” Spar said, according to the News Service of Florida.
Board Vice Chairman Ryan Petty argued that rules and standards approved by the board are crafted with input from educators, the News Service of Florida reported.
“The notion that we’re not out engaged with educators and engaged with teachers in developing these rules is a false notion,” Petty said.
Democrats criticize the lesson
Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, was one lawmaker who asked the board to table the standard to allow for changes last year.
“I am very concerned by these standards, especially … the notion that enslaved people benefited from being enslaved. It’s inaccurate and a scary standard for us to establish in our educational curriculum,” she said.
Vice President Kamala Harris even previously criticized the guidelines on a trip to Jacksonville in July.
"They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it,” she said in a speech.
But, the standards were upheld last year, and the state is sticking with them again this year.
“It’s sad to see critics attempt to discredit what any unbiased observer would conclude to be in-depth and comprehensive African American History standards," Florida Department of Education Director of Communications Alex Lanfranconi said in 2023. "They incorporate all components of African American History: the good, the bad and the ugly."
Other changes
Students will learn about ancient Jewish traditions and how they influenced the United States being founded as a Constitutional Republic.
The Florida Freedom to Read Project argued this could lead to lessons about the Ten Commandments.
Middle and high schoolers will learn about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and compare national responses to these events.
High school educators will have to teach about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders focusing on Japanese internment camps and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
