Concerned about revisions to Florida textbooks related to history and civil rights, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office filed a public records request last week to determine if any of those publishers are also doing business with California.
The request, filed with the Florida Department of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, seeks communications between the state and publishers regarding revisions that publishers made to win approval for use in Florida classrooms.
“California will not be complicit in Florida’s attempt to whitewash history through laws and backroom deals,” Newsom’s letter said. “California deserves to know whether any of the companies designing textbooks for our state’s classrooms are the same ones kowtowing to Florida’s extremist agenda.”
Newsom’s office has also sent requests to publishers whose books are under consideration for use in California, asking whether they’ve revised social studies textbooks to reflect Florida’s new standards.
June 1 is the deadline for publishers to respond.
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