A classroom controversy
is erupting in Florida over
how students will learn about
black history.
The state board of Education
has just approved standards
for public schools.
One rule
that teachers must now
follow requires
middle school students
to learn, quote,
how slaves
develop skills, which in some instances
could be applied
for their personal benefit.
And at the high school level,
if students learn about race massacres
like the 1920 rampage in Ocoee Florida,
teachers must include, quote,
acts of violence perpetrated against
and by African-Americans.
Joining me to discuss is Andrew Spar,
president of the Florida
Education Association.
Andrew, to be clear,
when it comes to that massacre
that was against African-Americans
trying to prevent them from voting,
just to be clear with folks
who may not be familiar
with that history.
What is your reaction to these standards?
We're very concerned
about the standards here in Florida.
You know, what teachers want to do
is they want to teach kids
an accurate, complete and honest history,
both the good and the bad.
And what we see happening here right now
in Florida is
the governor is putting his political
agenda ahead
of the education of our children.
And he's picking and choosing
what he believes
should be part of the history
that is taught in our schools.
I mean, you mentioned two examples
from middle and high school,
but even in elementary school
where we typically talk to kids
about explaining and describing
and defining
they're being told just to recognize
and identify
key figures
in African-American history,
not talk about their contributions
and how those contributions
may have affected their lives
and the lives of their families.
What other standards are there other ones
besides the ones you mentioned
besides the one that I outlined there?
In the introduction
to you that are concerning
Yeah, absolutely.
Again, we're talking about
what's missing from these standards.
Florida's articles of succession
when when there was the Civil War,
aren't even included in these standards.
And talking about the impact
that that has on our students
or that had on black people,
and particularly slaves.
We also see when we talk about
the Supreme Court
ruling of Brown versus
the Board of Education, again,
another key element is missing,
which is when the Florida legislature
voted to say that
that Supreme Court
ruling was null
and void in the state of Florida.
Those are key elements
that we need to know
because we learn from our history.
And when you leave
that out of the teaching to our students,
it's problematic.
And keep in mind,
teachers in Florida
are operating
under a law passed last year,
which was the stop gap
where they are threatened with their jobs
and their teaching certificate
if they teach something
that the governor decides is part of woke
in America
or woke in Florida
or part of stuff
he does not want taught in our schools.
And so because of that,
teachers are very hesitant
as to how they navigate standards
when things are key issues are missing.
So Andrew, your organization represents
150,000 teachers
and also other education professionals.
What are you hearing from them
now with these standards? Passed?
Well, we've been hearing
for a while from them
because last year we began
Florida changed pass the Stop Vocal Act.
They also had a civics training
that they did for teachers,
and we were hearing from them
about how it seemed like
they were trying to rewrite the history,
leave things out.
Talking about how
the founding fathers in our country
as fought against slavery,
but not talking
about how they owned slaves.
So teachers are very concerned
with what's happening
and how we're narrowing the curriculum.
And they're also very concerned
that many of our students are no longer
seeing themselves in their learning.
And that is really,
really important for kids to learn.
It's one of those foundational skills
that one of those foundational needs
that kids have,
which is to see themselves
in their learning
and how their learning connects to them.
So when you say don't teach
current events,
when you say limit
what kids can see and learn
That's a real problem for educators.
Can you talk a little bit
more about that?
What are the long
term effects
that you are concerned about
with children?
Learning history, the way it is outlined
in these standards?
Again, you know,
there's
that old adage,
if we don't learn from history,
we're destined to repeat it.
So if you are selecting what you can
and can't learn in our schools,
as the governor is doing right now
for his own political ambitions,
then kids are missing out
on that education. They deserve and need.
If they don't learn about how slavery
really came about in this country
and how there were attempts
to continue slavery
even after the Emancipation Proclamation,
if they don't learn about how
there was
separate and unequal in our schools
at which the
which Brown versus
the Board of Education
reversed and changed,
and how states like Florida
and other states
fought against desegregation,
then we're destined to repeat that.
And what's concerning is we're seeming
like we're going back to 1950
rather than going ahead to 2050
and the great prosperity ahead of us.
Andrew Spar with the Florida
Education Association.
Thank you for being on the show today.
We appreciate it.