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Florida Wins the Curriculum Wars

· Reason

Florida just created its own alternative to A.P. United States History, and it seems pretty good.

Headlines describe it as "anti-woke" and "more conservative," but this framing is a little tired and unsophisticated. Instead, I'd offer that it seems a lot more balanced and positive on Western/Enlightenment ideals than the curriculum it is replacing. It seems rather similar to what most of us were taught in school, provided we attended school prior to the late 2010s.

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The recommended textbook for the course is Hillsdale professor Wilfred M. McClay's Land of Hope: An Invitation to the American Story, which—though I have not personally read it—seems like a useful corrective and better alternative to, say, Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States (which is frequently used in A.P. U.S. History classes).

"One of the worst sins of the present—not just ours but any present—is its tendency to condescend toward the past, which is much easier to do when one doesn't trouble to know the full context of that past or try to grasp the nature of its challenges as they presented themselves at the time," writes McClay. I fully agree, and this seems like an appropriate lens through which one should view teaching of the past. But McClay is also rather sensible when it comes to the specifics.

"Generally, traditional texts address industrialization after the Civil War with trepidation. A few words are offered in support of free enterprise and the amazing economic accomplishments of the period, but the story is overshadowed by coverage of 'robber barons,' the growth of labor unions, strikes, income inequality, and urbanization," writes Mark C. Schug in a review of the book for EconLib. "This is all prologue for the arrival of the Progressive Movement—the good guys—who come to rescue us from the evils of unfettered capitalism. Traditional texts cheer the passage of legislation to establish government oversight over vast swaths of the economy, including the passage of antitrust laws, the Federal Reserve Act, the regulation of railroads, the passage of the 16th amendment (the income tax), and so forth.…[But] McClay is not so ardent a cheerleader for elite experts managing our lives that he glosses over other aspects of Progressive behavior."

"Too many of today's textbooks are overburdened with detail and disfigured by partisan animus, and leave students of the American past confused, ill-informed, and unprepared for the task of citizenship in a free society," McClay told interviewers with Encounter Books. "We have had, and continue to have, serious national problems, such as our problems of racial inequality, missteps in our relations with other nations, and other problems that show us to be in conflict with our national creed and our deepest values. We are very far from being perfect, and it has been important for Americans to face up to these problems, rather than pretend that they do not exist." But "the trouble comes when the self-criticism loses all sense of perspective, and becomes relentless and corrosive, taking the nation's flaws as the totality of its being." This strikes me as totally fair, and indeed a good way of looking at it.

I still have a few questions: Will students be able to get college credit for taking this course, even when applying to schools outside of Florida? (If not, it won't serve as a real substitute for the A.P. U.S. History class; getting college credit while still in high school is a major unlock for those who don't want to blow all their money on college. As it stands right now, it seems like they could become eligible for college credit within Florida but not outside of it.) What will students think of the course? And, if successful, will other states follow suit, using Florida as a positive example of how to overhaul curricula?

Waiting on Tehran: "The US is waiting on Iran to respond to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end a war that's killed thousands of people, with tensions still high and Israel striking Lebanon's capital on Wednesday," reports Bloomberg. The Trump administration seems to hope Iran will capitulate, ending its nuclear program as well as its enrichment of uranium, and possibly even handing over the already-enriched uranium to the United States. (This seems…hard to pull off.)

Scenes from New York: I'm fascinated by the New York Mayor Zohran Mamdami's belief that vast swaths of Manhattan are food deserts—something that's provably false.

QUICK HITS

  • "Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery," reports the Post. "The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported."
  • I'm not sure I agree with the claim that this war hasn't been that bad for the U.S. economically—people are absolutely feeling high gas prices—but this point about the Jones Act is rather interesting:

  • A French cargo ship was attacked on Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, presumably by Iran or its proxies. American authorities claim the ship had not coordinated with the U.S. military, so the ship's safe passage could not be ensured. Eight crew members are injured.
  • "Eli Lilly & Co.'s blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro has surpassed Merck & Co.'s cancer therapy Keytruda as the world's best-selling medication," reports Bloomberg. "Mounjaro generated $8.7 billion for Lilly in the first quarter of 2026, outperforming Merck's Keytruda, which posted sales of $7.9 billion. Keytruda has been the world's top-selling drug since the first quarter of 2023, when it displaced AbbVie Inc.'s autoimmune disorder drug Humira."
  • Watching this trend:

  • More on how artificial intelligence is changing the legal profession from Odd Lots.
  • Anthropic makes a deal with SpaceX.
  • "Margaret, my wife's grandmother, was still in her home two days after her death when Maria and I arrived in the village of Cruglic, Moldova," writes Jesse Blackwood for Plough. "The house was always open and visitors would arrive at any time. Each of these visits followed the same pattern. They were always offered a glass of wine and a few candies and cookies on behalf of Margaret, which when accepted, the response was always, 'May God forgive her.' Then, after kissing the icon and cross and spending some time sitting with Margaret they would usually come to the kitchen for a full meal. This pattern was not altogether different than it had been in Margaret's life."
  • I love to run but am horrified by the social changes I'm seeing especially from upper-middle-class young people with extra time on their hands. Everyone needs to LOOSEN UP!

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