Florida education commissioner skips forum on criticized Black history standards
Lawmakers, teachers, school board members and parents crowded into a South Florida church for a forum on the state's new standards for teaching Black history
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Leaders of a forum on Florida's new standards for teaching Black history encouraged parents to let their discontent be heard by showing up at local school board meetings, sending feedback to the state's Department of Education and voting.
Hundreds of lawmakers, teachers and parents crowded into Antioch Baptist Church in Miami Gardens on Thursday night to discuss the new policy, which has drawn harsh criticism for requiring teachers to instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
But Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, the person responsible for overseeing the new standards, wasn't in attendance.
Diaz, a former area high school teacher in Miami-Dade County, had previously agreed to attend, according to organizers. His participation was advertised on fliers publicizing the event, which was sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones. A chair even was set up for him with a placard bearing his name.
