What Is the Conservative Beef With 'Social-Emotional Learning'?

The Florida Department of Education has just banned dozens of math textbooks on the pretext that they fall short of the state’s newly enacted Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standards. Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran struck 54 books from a list of proposed teaching materials because in his opinion they seemed to sneak in certain loathed hallmarks of the liberal agenda. “Reasons for rejecting textbooks,” according to a press release, “included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.”

First off, a master class in the art of public relations: Timothée Chalamet was spotted making out at Coachella, and the young woman involved released this statement. Completely unrelated to that, our colleagues at Vulture are correct: It’s never too late to treat yourself to the criminally underrated Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. Why so many are giving up on care work, rightfully called “the work that makes other work possible,” and what it will mean for everyone else. Meet the amazing Kurt Russell (no, not the actor), the 2022 U.S. Teacher of the Year. In the midst of the African rainforest, one elusive animal wreaks havoc on vegetation — and in doing so, helps preserve one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems. And the Biden administration is restoring key provisions of a bedrock environmental law that were rolled back under Trump. Lastly, The Brooklyn Public Library is giving e-cards to teens nationwide to challenge book bans.

It happened this week — let’s talk about it. Sign up for My Week in New York: a new newsletter from the editors.

If you enjoyed reading the Cut’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or dive deeper into the New York universe with the Vulture newsletter, a daily digest of entertainment news for the pop-culture obsessed.