Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. included “Up from Slavery” by Booker T. Washington and “Romeo and Juliet” in his monthly reading challenge for K-12 students. The move comes after national backlash against the state’s African American history standards and reports that public schools are limiting instruction on Shakespeare.

The Florida Department of Education has already tried to fend off criticism of the standards’ description of slavery as beneficial, which the State Board of Education approved on July 19.

Though Washington only spent the first nine years of his life in slavery, two members of the workgroup that came up with the standards cited him as an example of a Black person who learned beneficial skills from slavery.

Now, Diaz is recommending Washington’s 1901 autobiography to high schoolers, according to a Tuesday press release from the FDOE. The other pick for kids in 9th through 12th grade is “Romeo and Juliet.”

“This month’s book recommendations provide a variety of reading materials that students will find uplifting and will spark a love for literacy,” the commissioner wrote in the announcement.

Although Shakespeare classics are still part of Florida’s English curriculum in schools, the Tampa Bay Times reported on Monday that Hillsborough County is limiting their instruction to excerpts.

A spokesperson for the school district told the Times that they are cutting back partly because of the expanded Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Since Shakespeare’s plays such as “Romeo and Juliet” include depictions of sexuality, the school wanted to avoid those topics by adhering to excerpts. However, Hillsborough is also using this strategy to teach students more content from a list of books that might be included in the state exam, according to the Times article.

Diaz Jr. also included in the list “My Florida Alphabet” by Russell W. Johnson and Annie P. Johnson, “Groovy Joe: Ice Cream & Dinosaurs” by Eric Litwin, “The Magician’s Hat” by Malcolm Mitchell and “Fins” by Randy Wayne White.