Happy Friday the 13th, POLITI-Kids! 

In case you didn't know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we want to make sure we give you the space to check-in with yourselves.

Taking care of your mental health should be one of your top priorities in these unprecedented times. The ever-changing news cycle can bring on feelings of confusion, anxiety, frustration and loneliness, so finding ways to manage those feelings is incredibly important. 

Our hope for you is that you make space this month to be honest with yourselves and your families about how you are feeling. Talking, journaling or drawing out your thoughts and sharing them with someone you trust can be one way to find some relief. We have included a few other ideas throughout this issue and hope you take advantage of them!

Sending love,
The POLITI-Kids Team
Aloïse Phelps and Alexa Velickovich

Parents — if your kids are asking questions about abortion and the Roe v. Wade decision, check out this article, "How to Talk About Reproductive Rights in Terms Simple Enough for a Child to Understand." We also suggest this book, "What's An Abortion, Anyway?"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Department of Education on Thursday released scores of documents shedding new light on why the agency rejected dozens of proposed math textbooks over what state leaders deemed “impermissible” content, including lessons on critical race theory.

The records, nearly 6,000 pages of book examinations, show that state reviewers flagged several traces of critical race theory and inklings of “social emotional learning” in proposed texts, two topics that have been explicitly targeted by the DeSantis administration. The slate of textbook denials gained national attention last month when state leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, publicly blasted publishers for attempting to “indoctrinate” students.

At the time, many were left confused as to why the state would not accept dozens of math textbooks over issues like critical race theory, which are generally not part of the mathematics curriculum.
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The book reviews released Thursday illustrate that the Florida Department of Education asked its analysts a series of four questions on “special topics” that could ultimately disqualify a text from being adopted for use in classrooms across the state.

The state education department specifically sought to know if the books aligned with the state’s rule outlawing critical race theory, and if they included any snippets of “Culturally Responsive Teaching,” “Social Justice,” or social emotional learning, which aims to teach students how to manage their emotions and develop strong relationships with their peers. Florida’s Board of Education in 2021 passed a rule banning critical race theory along with The 1619 Project from The New York Times, claiming they are theories that “distort historical events.”

Critical race theory, an analytical framework developed by legal scholars, examines how race and racism have become ingrained in American law and institutions since slavery and Jim Crow.
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Florida originally rejected 54 of the 132 proposed math textbooks, some 41 percent, submitted by publishers, the bulk of which were proposed for kindergarten through fifth grade. Some 28 of the math textbooks — or 21 percent — were left off the adoption list due to “prohibited topics” including critical race theory, according to the state education department.

This decision initially left schools across Florida with only one textbook option for standard K-5 math. But the state has since adopted additional publishers after they tweaked their proposals.

To that end, two publishers seeking to provide K-5 math books were flagged by reviewers for broaching lessons on social emotional learning, according to the documents.

One second-grade book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was penalized on its alignment to state standards because “attempts at multicultural teaching” were evident in its text. The example given was “types of housing for different groups of people.”

Similarly, a McGraw Hill LLC book for fifth graders was rated as “very poor” for its social emotional learning lessons. The reviewer noted that one question “asks students to think about social and emotional learning competencies, including relationship skills and social awareness.”
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Textbook publishers, including McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, have indicated they are appealing the state’s decision against adopting the books.