BOOK CLUB: Until recently, California Democrats had been sitting out the culture wars raging in Florida and elsewhere over what kids learn in school. Now, worried that red-state content restrictions could filter into the state’s curriculum, they’re jumping in. Gov. Gavin Newsom made the first move earlier this month. He directed staff to seek records from Florida officials — pressing for details on their successful campaign to have social studies textbook publishers change “objectionable” content. Then state Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s Education Department this week used its bully pulpit to warn California school districts that they may risk constitutional challenges should they remove instructional materials for political reasons. “All across the nation, we're seeing a trend to ban books that depict the representation of students who identify as LGBTQ+, or talk about race,” Thurmond said at a press conference this morning announcing the new memo on curriculum restrictions. In California, “we’re heading in a very different direction.” The Newsom administration made that direction clear when it went on the offensive against its political rivals two weeks ago. It sent public records requests to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education in search of communications with textbook publishers, and it wrote letters to dozens of publishers demanding more information on what revisions they had made to their texts. The move was, explicitly, an attempt to determine whether K-12 social studies textbooks being considered for use in California had been edited under pressure from Florida officials. But it was also a signal to publishers that they’ll be boxed out of California’s massive curriculum market if they make changes that “whitewash history.” “Textbook companies are trying to make a buck — looking to publish anything they can sell in all 50 states,” Ben Chida, chief deputy cabinet secretary and Newsom’s top education adviser, told POLITICO in a statement. “Unless we take a stand, the history rewritten in Florida could be the history sold and taught in California.” But California Democrats have been reluctant to take as heavy a hand on book bans as some of their national counterparts — like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who wants his state to be the first to punish schools and other public institutions that remove books from their shelves. The most sweeping bill California was considering on the subject would have required school districts to get state approval before removing books, but that requirement was amended out. The bill would now only require the California Department of Education to offer guidance to schools on removing curriculum, which it did without a legal mandate on Tuesday. And the state has limited power to force the hands of school boards in California's numerous conservative enclaves, absent new legislation. California law leaves high school curriculum approval up to local officials. And while the State Board of Education does approve materials for grades K-8, schools can use “off-list” textbooks as long as they go through a local review process and follow state content standards. HAPPY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON! Welcome to California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to bjones@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open!
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