Florida rejected a large number of K-12 mathematics textbooks last week for including what the state says is critical race theory, an academic theory taught in colleges and universities.

Derek W. Black, professor of law at the University of South Carolina and an expert on education law and policy, explains how that decision fits into ongoing American debates over textbooks. Black is the author of “Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy.“

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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