NW Valley Times

The Peoria Unified School District Governing Board discussed adopting math and science textbooks that have caused an outcry in right-wing circles nationwide for being "woke" during a meeting held on May 22.

In October, the District began the process of a request for proposal (RFP), committee analysis and a series of recommendations for new textbook materials for both math and science for students in K-8 grade levels and high school. The entirety of the process, reviews, financing, and implementation timeline was presented to the Board on May 22 by their Chief Financial Officer Michelle Myers and Academic Support Officer Teresa Hernandez.

The presentation noted the age of the district's current textbooks and curriculums, the members of the various committees appointed to test and evaluate the materials using several criteria, the pricing of many of the responses to the RFP, and how the process and all considered materials complied with all state regulations for adopting materials. Following the presentation, which lasted over 35 minutes, Myers and Hernandez suggested adopting Savvas Learning Materials for all four areas: K-8 Math, K-8 Science, HS Math, and HS Science. The recommendations also approved purchasing textbooks for Statistics, Financial Algebra, and College Algebra from Bedford Freeman and Worth and Cengage Learning for those textbooks only.

The proposed contracts include all materials, textbooks, and professional development teachers need to implement the new content into their classrooms, with the District estimating a cost of approximately $11.3 million to install the new curriculums. The cost will be paid for with the District's ESSER III money.

"The contract will be effective upon the award by the governing board at a future board meeting and will continue until a new adoption is approved," Myers said.

One public commenter referred to the controversy behind the curriculum, noting that Savvas Learning and Bedford were rejected by the Florida state government due to their material mentioning topics such as Critical Race Theory and gender fluidity. Another parent read from one of the biology textbooks which said that sex is "not a binary state with just two defined outcomes." The parent asked if they could swap the book out for another to teach "the important merits of science."

The Board members were appreciative of the work done by the administration and teachers who took part in the evaluation process. After Board member Rebecca Hill questioned the quality and validity of the proposed curriculums, Hernandez said that "while the text could have -- as one of our public members said, there's no perfect solution -- it may have other information in it, we are only to teach the Arizona State standards." Other Board members were excited about the curriculum and looked forward to voting on it at a later meeting.

"So we're time-bound on an obvious, lengthy process," said Board member Bill Sorensen. "And I have no problem with skepticism and I have no problem with not trusting massive corporations that is textbook and curriculum because it is big business. But it sounds like we've done the work. It sounds like the people in this room have done the work. And I just have to trust those people. You know, there are good educators, there are bad educators, there are good CFOs, there are bad CFOs. But it sounds like the process was transparent and held us accountable for the work we did. So I appreciate that. And when this does come to an action, I will be approving it or voting for it."