Ron DeSantis may dictate textbooks even outside Florida — despite being a punchline for late-night comics: report

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has been widely mocked after Florida banned 28 math textbooks in a panic over Critical Race Theory, but the impacts of his culture war may extend far beyond the Sunshine State.

Writing for Time magazine, Philip Elliott warned that parents in states outside Florida should be worried because, "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 what will be taught in local classrooms, down to the words on page, in exchange 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," Elliott added. "They chase the biggest markets."

And Florida is a huge market.

"For years, publishers catered to the two giants, California and Texas," the magazine reported. "The New York Times in 2020 published an eye-opening and detailed comparison 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."

"This behind-the-scenes effort at indoctrinating students into their states’ mythologies is now pushing into public view, with DeSantis crowing about his fight to shape young minds," Elliott added. "Even Texas’ conservative textbook would be insufficient for DeSantis."

Meanwhile, DeSantis has been the butt of jokes from late night comics. MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday played a clip of the Florida governor being mocked by Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Trevor Noah.

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