Florida education commissioner skips forum on criticized Black history standards

By DANIEL KOZIN
Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — 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. The standards have drawn harsh criticism for requiring teachers to instruct middle-school students that enslaved people gained skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.” Organizers say Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, the man responsible for overseeing the standards, had previously RSVPed but then didn’t show up. Diaz, a former area high school teacher, says he was instead visiting schools Thursday that had their first day of the school year.