--- description: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wields power over textbooks all over the country in his war on wokeness. title: How Ron DeSantis Could Wind Up Dictating Your Kids’ Textbooks image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fa309ba2a348d9b/698a3109656a3f13d3bdc700/textbooks-classrooms-publishers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [The D.C. Brief](/tag/the-dc-brief/) ## The D.C. Brief Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Ron DeSantis Could Wind Up Dictating Your Kids’ Textbooks  by [Philip Elliott](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2022 8:25 PM CUT  Proponents and opponents to teaching Critical Race Theory are in attendance as the Placentia Yorba Linda School Board discusses a proposed resolution to ban it from being taught in schools, in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2021. Proponents and opponents to teaching Critical Race Theory are in attendance as the Placentia Yorba Linda School Board discusses a proposed resolution to ban it from being taught in schools, in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2021.Robert Gauthier—Los Angeles Times/Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2022 8:25 PM CUT _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite "undefined") _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ It’s no secret that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying the [groundwork](https://newrepublic.com/article/165124/ron-desantis-white-house-florida-democrats-eyeing-him "undefined") for a presidential run. For liberal parents in other states dusting off their [pink hats](https://time.com/5508007/womens-march-washington-2019-pink-hats/ "undefined"), they’d be better served keeping an eye on the textbooks their local school boards are considering in the next few years. Because, in many cases, DeSantis and his allies in Florida could be effectively picking the reading lists from afar. You see, in 20 states, officials in the state capitol [pick](https://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/09/23/10923.pdf "undefined") what will be taught in local classrooms, down to the words on page, in [exchange](https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/states-ceding-power-over-classroom-materials/2015/02 "undefined") for fully funded book orders. That gives states with huge caches of students tremendous sway in what options are available in other states. Publishers are businesses; they chase the biggest markets. The publishers don’t have incentives to create Red State textbooks and Blue State textbooks. States and districts with huge checks can seek specific line edits while, with no disrespect for the roughly 70,000 students in D.C. public schools, Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee cannot compel massive publishers to do the same on a matching scale. That’s why DeSantis is set to be the _de facto_ arbiter of what millions of students—even outside of Florida—are learning. It is all in the name of [keeping](https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2022/04/18/florida-math-textbook-desantis-bans-woke-critical-race-theory/7359095001/ "undefined") the kids safe from wokeness masquerading as math. For years, publishers [catered](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/03/15/textbooks-are-important-but-states-and-districts-arent-systematically-tracking-them/ "undefined") to the two giants, California and Texas. The New York _Times_ in 2020 published an eye-opening and detailed [comparison](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/12/us/texas-vs-california-history-textbooks.html "undefined") of one publisher’s telling of the American story—by the same authors—and found two very different versions of the country’s history based on in what state a student took social studies. For instance, The _Times_ found a publisher inserted into a discussion of the Harlem Renaissance an observation that critics “dismissed the quality of the literature produced” for Texas audiences. In earlier Texas versions dating to [2014](https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/11/21/365686593/texas-hits-the-books "undefined"), Moses was listed among the Founding Fathers’ influences. It was long assumed that publishers would adapt to chase California’s 6.5 million students and Texas’ 5.5 million. (Nationally, 51 million students are [enrolled](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13%5F203.20.asp "undefined") in K-12 public schools.) Florida has long had on the books an official list of approved textbooks for its 2.9 million students, but it was easy enough for publishers to make minor tweaks and repurpose the Texas books for Florida audiences. After all, [sympathy](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflicts-bad-textbooks-on-us/?lp%5Ftxn%5Fid=1346157 "undefined") for the NRA translates easily from Houston to Pensacola, as The New York _Times’_ Gail Collins found in a separate project. This behind-the-scenes effort at [indoctrinating](https://www.today.com/tmrw/who-chooses-history-textbooks-t190833 "undefined") students into their states’ mythologies is now pushing into public view, with DeSantis crowing about his fight to shape young minds. Even Texas’ conservative textbook would be insufficient for DeSantis. The figure who is seen as a strong contender in 2024—especially if former President Donald Trump ends up sitting out the race—gathered reporters on Monday to promote the fact that his state education department rejected 42 of 132 textbooks proposed for the next school year. Their sin? The math texts seemed, in the estimation of Florida’s reviewers, to teach critical race theory and social-emotional learning, both considered [verboten](https://time.com/6079716/conservative-case-against-banning-critical-race-theory/ "undefined") for conservatives who see wokeness creeping into their kids’ classrooms and, in the words of _Puck_, [Woke War III](https://puck.news/woke-war-iii-pence-desantis-battle-for-cancellation/ "undefined") looming. So almost half of the math texts were rejected, with little explanation for how word problems and geometry theorems can be used for indoctrination. DeSantis is betting his political future—or at least the chapter where he seeks the GOP nomination—on the far right’s obsession with government overreach and its threat to kids. (TIME’s Olivia B. Waxman wrote a cover story for the magazine last year that[ unpacked](https://time.com/magazine/us/6075407/july-5th-2021-vol-198-no-1-u-s/ "undefined") why some activists are so deeply—and wrongly—worried that a graduate-level approach to policy analysis is teaching white kids to hate themselves under the guise of critical race theory.) The Sarasota _Herald-Tribune_’s political editor [branded](https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/13/desantis-emulates-donald-trump-florida-laws-dont-say-gay-covid/9496794002/ "undefined") DeSantis “the chief of the woke police.” During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he emerged as the primary foil to Anthony Fauci, all but declaring coronavirus over in Florida. DeSantis signed a state proclamation [declaring](https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2022/03/24/ron-desantis-proclamation-ncaa-transgender-swimmer "undefined") a female Florida swimmer the “rightful winner” of the NCAA championship after she came up short to an opponent who is [transgender](https://www.si.com/college/2022/03/03/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover "undefined"). ​​He has signed into law a measure that explicitly bans schools from teaching students in third grade and younger anything about sexual orientation or gender identity. TIME’s Madeleine Carlisle has the details on the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law [here](https://time.com/6155905/florida-dont-say-gay-passed/ "undefined"). And DeSantis is poised in coming weeks to sign into law the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which [makes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/10/florida-legislature-passes-anti-woke-bill/ "undefined") it illegal for companies or schools to conduct trainings that could make people uncomfortable about the actions of their ancestors. It’s a sweeping measure that would protect the feelings of white people—and one that other states are considering as the latest chapter of the culture wars spreads from coast to coast. But these moves have helped DeSantis emerge as a [favorite](https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/01/politics/ron-desantis-fox-news-candidate/index.html "undefined") 2024 candidate for the Fox News crowd. DeSantis is following in the footsteps of other White House hopefuls and test-driving a national agenda at the statehouse. One of DeSantis’ predecessors, Jeb Bush, used his time in Tallahassee to emerge as a [champion](https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7548497/jeb-bush-florida-education "undefined") of an education overhaul on a national stage. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry oversaw the state’s strong economic [growth](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/business/economy/what-texas-economy-means-for-rick-perrys-presidential-ambitions.html "undefined"), fueled by low taxes and dramatically basement-level regulation, which then enticed major companies to relocate to his state. And Mitt Romney’s turn as Massachusetts’ Governor made him into a leader on health care, an [accomplishment](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/06/06/romneys-dilemma "undefined") that would haunt him as his policy’s central plank would help build Obamacare. DeSantis’ style of courting grievance might be the right way to win a primary in a Republican Party that has, at least since 2015, decided to preach from the gospel of Trumpism. But his efforts miss this fact: Americans writ large don’t really [care](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/18/desantis-dont-say-gay-anti-groomer-lawsuit/ "undefined") about this in the same way as kitchen-table issues like taxes and healthcare. [Polling](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/opinion/critical-race-theory-survey.html "undefined") shows most Americans support teaching _all_ history and admit that this country has historically favored white men. Republicans’ losses in [2018](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/us/politics/democrats-republicans-house.html "undefined") and Trump’s defeat in [2020](https://time.com/5907973/donald-trump-loses-2020-election/ "undefined") should give the GOP some concerns. DeSantis has the fundamentals of a skilled political effort, but those alone can’t get him into the White House. After all, Jeb Bush, Perry, and Romney all resonated with a loud corner of the Republican Party, but didn’t electrify a national audience. But in the meantime, DeSantis could end up picking kids’ math worksheets from Santa Fe to Charlotte—power that might tee up his national ambitions. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6168433/ron-desantis-florida-textbooks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6168433/ron-desantis-florida-textbooks/"},"headline":"How Ron DeSantis Could Wind Up Dictating Your Kids’ Textbooks","datePublished":"2022-04-19T20:25:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:08:42.140Z","description":"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wields power over textbooks all over the country in his war on wokeness.","url":"https://time.com/6168433/ron-desantis-florida-textbooks/","keywords":["The D.C. 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