After a few weeks off to engage in professional development or much needed personal care, Florida’s teachers are ready to welcome students back for the 2023-2024 school year. However, when Floridians express apprehension about teaching the standards because they feel that this will make them “lie to the kids,” we should listen. As one of the teachers that had the distinct honor and privilege of serving on the Florida Department of Education African American history work group, I have heard Pastor Gundy and other Floridians who have expressed concerns about a handful of standards. Can we be honest and admit that we have language issues with some of these standards?
Commissioner, we need to get these standards right. The Florida standards have the power to enrich, inform and guide Florida’s students for years to come. This knowledge allows Florida’s students to feel more connected to people in their community and informs their civic engagement and patriotism.
The African American history work group worked diligently on these standards for three months. I ask you to reconvene the work group for the opportunity to take the community’s feedback and improve the standards. We had a public comment period; let’s use that too. With these improvements Florida will blaze a path for other states to also teach African American history.
The effort and sacrifice that my colleagues and I put into developing these standards should be transparent. I ask you to please make public all of the Microsoft Teams meeting recording, all meeting minutes and documents, so the public can see the collaboration and effort that occurred among workgroup members. The work group produced a good product, something that will allow Florida’s students, including my young children, to learn more about African American history. Nevertheless, they still need work. Let’s make these standards better, so that they can better inform the writing of the Stories of Excellence and meet the highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy
As educational leaders, we must demonstrate through our words and actions that Floridians do not hide from history, but instead we embrace its lessons and teach them truthfully to the next generation. Our education standards should encourage, empower and motivate all Floridians: from our children in school to our citizens in churches and community groups who want to learn African American history, which is American history. Let’s get this right because Florida’s students deserve the best education possible.
Respectfully,
Roberto Fernández, III M.A. (he/they)
Father, Social Studies Teacher, Army Veteran
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