Florida Department of Education slams White House for ‘partisan and inaccurate’ criticisms about Black history

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DeSantis takes swing at Byron Donalds in defense of Florida's slavery curriculum: 'Don't stand with Kamala'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a swing at Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., suggesting he was siding with Vice President Kamala Harris on the state's new history curriculum.

The Florida Department of Education (DOE) fired back at the White House over criticisms about the Sunshine State’s new African-American curriculum standards.

The department sent to Florida School District Superintendents a letter entitled "Response to False Attacks from the White House on African American History Standards" to push back on comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

The letter states that the Biden administration "intentionally misrepresented" their "groundbreaking work" in updating the new standards.

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Comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona prompted the Florida Department of Education to fire back. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

"I am issuing this memo to reaffirm that we will be moving forward with implementing Florida’s new history standards. Despite the partisan and inaccurate criticism we have received, Florida’s thorough standards promote the teaching of accurate, detailed, and nuanced history free from political sanitation and indoctrination," the letter reads.

The letter goes on to say, "To develop these new standards, the Department assembled an august group of African-American scholars and Florida educators utilizing a rigorous process, and we couldn’t be happier with the results."

The new curriculum states, "Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit," leading to some critics accusing Harris of "brazenly lying," and "misleading" the American people.

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Comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona prompted the Florida Department of Education to fire back. (Fox News)

The state's 2022 "Stop WOKE Act" required the changes be made.

Harris told a Jacksonville crowd last week that Florida’s new state-wide Black history curriculum replaces "history with lies," setting the tone for liberal pundits and reporters to scold Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Harris claimed middle-school students in Florida will be "told that enslaved people benefited from slavery."

"They want to replace history with lies," Harris said at the Ritz Theatre and Museum in Jacksonville on Friday. "Middle school students in Florida to be told that enslaved people benefited from slavery."

But critics have been quick to argue the Vice President's claims are a misrepresentation of the new curriculum standards, which were approved by Florida's Education Department last week. 

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Florida's new standards for African-American history actually states, "Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)

Ahead of her speech, Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped Harris, accusing her of being "obsessed" with Florida, and described the Biden administration of trying to indoctrinate students.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded on Twitter, saying "Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children. Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies."

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