Standards & Accountability

Here’s What’s in Florida’s New African American History Standards

By Ileana Najarro — July 25, 2023 1 min read
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., on July 21, 2023. Harris spoke out against the new standards adopted by the Florida State Board of Education in the teaching of Black history.
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Florida’s board of education approved new standards for teaching African American history in grades K-12 this month, and they face a national backlash.

Several new standards were written, especially in the younger grades, which drew concerns from educators and public officials in their framing, including a contentious standard on the potential benefits gained from enslavement.

To review all the new standards, see pages 3-21 of this Florida department of education document:

Florida law has required instruction on African American history since 1994. To see how the new standards compare to the existing state standards on the topic, see the changes made to elementary grades here:

And see the changes made to middle school standards here:

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Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Celebrate Freedom Foundation Hangar in West Columbia, S.C. July 18, 2023. For DeSantis, Tuesday was supposed to mark a major moment to help reset his stagnant Republican presidential campaign. But yet again, the moment was overshadowed by Donald Trump. The former president was the overwhelming focus for much of the day as DeSantis spoke out at a press conference and sat for a highly anticipated interview designed to reassure anxious donors and primary voters that he's still well-positioned to defeat Trump.
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference in West Columbia, S.C., on July 18, 2023. Florida officials approved new African American history standards that drew national backlash, and which DeSantis defended.
Sean Rayford/AP

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