It doesn’t add up.

The Florida education department rejected 28 math textbooks for its K-12 curriculum because they “incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including [critical race theory],” according to a statement.

An additional 24 textbooks were rejected for a variety of reasons, including failing to meet curriculum standards.

One thing that led to the little-discussed defeat of “anti-CRT” bills in Indiana is the fact that the College Board would not certify AP courses in schools adopting such strict and ahistorical curricula. Florida’s recent textbook fiasco may cost them AP status for math courses.

— Dr. Trevon D Logan (@TrevonDLogan) April 18, 2022

NPR reports:

Among grade levels, 70% of the math materials for kindergarten through fifth grades were rejected. Twenty percent of the materials for grades 6-8 were rejected, and 35% of materials for grades 9-12 were rejected.

“It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students,” said Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In 2020, DeSantis removed Common Core concepts, a group of national academic targets in reading and math, from the state’s curriculum. They were replaced by the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking, or BEST, standards, also dedicated to reading and math.

DeSantis has also waged a high-profile war on critical race theory, signing a law last year that bans it from the state’s classrooms.

CRT, according to NPR, is “as an examination of racism and its impact through systems, such as legal, housing and education.” DeSantis says it “distort historical events.” Whatever the case, it is rarely – if ever – taught in K-12 schools.

State House Rep. Carlos Smith, a Democrat, tweeted that DeSantis “has turned our classrooms into political battlefields and this is just the beginning.”

.@EducationFL just announced they're banning dozens of math textbooks they claim "indoctrinate" students with CRT. They won't tell us what they are or what they say b/c it’s a lie.#DeSantis has turned our classrooms into political battlefields and this is just the beginning. 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/AliAGRDJIW

— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) April 15, 2022

The Guardian adds key context:

Swaths of Republican-controlled states in the US have passed measures seeking to ban the teaching of critical race theory, which will probably be a prominent conservative talking point in this year’s midterm elections.

Many of those bills and orders are vaguely worded, leading to fears of censorship on school and college campuses around the country.