Some parents fight to remove Dave Ramsey's finance book from classrooms over Bible references, other objections

Some Florida parents and teachers are fighting to get a finance book written by radio host and money expert Dave Ramsey removed from classrooms, raising concerns about its references to the Bible and other objections, NPR reported.

Pasco County School District received nearly 60 letters from community members demanding the removal of Ramsey's "Foundations in Personal Finance."

This year, the Florida Department of Education approved the book as part of a new financial literacy requirement for incoming high school freshmen.

The movement to remove the title from classrooms is being led by Florida Freedom to Read Project, an organization working to prevent conservatives' "book banning effort" and "censorship attempts."

"Our vision is to bring together parent-led groups from across the state of Florida and unite our voices to protect every student's right to access information and ideas," the nonprofit's website states. "We want to support our public school districts with fulfilling their duty under the law to keep every decision student-centered, especially as they face the 'Parents' Rights' movement."

Jessica Wright, a Florida Freedom to Read Project volunteer board member and former Pasco County teacher, told NPR, "I think the overall curriculum adoption process has been infected, especially in Florida. It's become hotly political."

The group obtained documents via a public records request revealing that reviewers of Ramsey's book did not recommend it for use in Pasco County Schools, the outlet reported. The reviewers reportedly claimed they could not compare the title to the new state standards passed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis since they had not yet been released. The outlet noted that three of the four reviewers stated that the book did not meet the standards of the rubric provided to them by district staff.

"Those notes from reviewers — at both the state and county level — show many concerns about the Ramsey materials falling short on teaching more complex math, failing to include a range of perspectives from other economic sources, and a lack of diversity in the materials," NPR reported.

Wright called the reviewers' notes "pretty overwhelming."

Community members reached out to the district to express concerns about the book, objecting to the "inclusion of Biblical references in the text" and claiming that it "neglects essential math literacy" and "promotes the purchase of additional Ramsey materials."

A district source told the New York Post students learn math in dedicated math classes. She argued that critics want the book removed not because of the title's content but because of the author's conservative political leanings.

"God forbid we have a few Bible proverbs in there," the source stated. "Considering all of the controversial — and that's putting it mildly — subject matter we see in books and textbooks these days that's a laugh in my opinion."

"Let's be honest," the source continued. "This is about the profile of the writer, not the content."

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