Abeka

History

The company started in 1972 as A Beka Book. In 2017, the company rebranded as Abeka. The Abeka Academy video program is available on DVD and streams online.

Accreditation

Abeka's video program (Abeka Academy) and the Traditional Parent-Directed program are accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) and by the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (FACCS).

Criticism

Educators have criticized some Abeka textbooks as lacking academic rigor and taking contrary or reactive positions toward their subject matter. Experts from the University of Florida and University of Central Florida in 2018 criticized the content of Abeka textbooks as being markedly simpler and less challenging than the content of comparable textbooks used in public education.

Abeka history books are dramatically different from mainstream books, especially on matters of race. A section of the high-school textbook United States History: Heritage of Freedom is titled Birth of a Nation, evoking the 1915 film of the same name that glorified the Ku-Klux-Klan. Other Christian Nationalist rhetoric describes slavery as "black immigration".

Abeka takes Biblical literalist and young Earth creationist positions in its science curriculum, teaching the Genesis creation narrative as a literal and factual account. An Abeka science book denounces evolution as a "retreat from science."

In 2006, the Association of Christian Schools International sued the University of California after the university rejected school credits based on books published by Abeka and one similar publisher. In the case of Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns, a judge upheld the University of California's finding that the books are "inconsistent with the viewpoints and knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community".

Tax status ruling

Between 1988 and 1996, Abeka Book held tax exempt status, because its profits were channeled into PCC as a tax-exempt religious organization or educational institution. In January 1995, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ruled that the college's publishing arm was liable for taxes as a profit-making entity. The IRS further ruled that the profits of the publishing arm benefited the organization as a whole, because both A Beka Book and PCC were run under the same organization and that all of the profits of A Beka Book went directly to PCC, constituting 60% of the college's income. The effect of this ruling rendered the publishing company ineligible for future tax exempt status.

Although PCC was ultimately cleared of any liability for back taxes, PCC paid the estimated $44.5 million, and A Beka Book paid another $3.5 million.

References

References

1. (2018-05-21). "LC Name Change". [[State of Florida]].
2. "A Beka Book, Inc.". Dun & Bradstreet, Inc..
3. "Review of: Major Publishers Overview".
4. Wagner, Melinda Bollar. (1991). "God's schools: choice and compromise in American society". Rutgers University Press.
5. Parsons, Paul F.. (1988). "Inside America's Christian Schools". Mercer University Press.
6. Parsons, Paul F.. (1988). "Inside America's Christian Schools". Mercer University Press.
7. "Abeka Academy | Accreditation".
8. (2018-06-01). "Private schools' curriculum downplays slavery, says humans and dinosaurs lived together".
9. (October 12, 2023). "The Right-Wing Textbooks Shaping What Many Americans Know About History". Time.
10. (August 12, 2021). "The rightwing US textbooks that teach slavery as 'black immigration'".
11. (December 23, 2022). "How the Battle Over Christian Nationalism Often Starts With Homeschooling". Pulitzer Center.
12. (August 10, 2006). "Creationist lawsuit against UC system to proceed". [[National Center for Science Education]].
13. (August 8, 2008). "Judge throws out religious discrimination suit". [[North County Times]].
14. Wallsten, Peter. (Jul 7, 1996). "Taxpayers foot religious school's tax tab". [[Tampa Bay Times.
15. (October 28, 1996). "College Pays Millions in Taxes". [[Christianity Today]].