The DeSantis administration canceled the training, as reported by Pritzker, “to mirror Florida’s racist and homophobic legislation.”
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, is taking it from Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker after DeSantis’s administration banned the College Board’s African American Studies AP course from being taught in Florida schools.
After the DeSantis administration rejected the African American Studies Advanced Placement course, rumors circulated that the College Board was considering revising the course. Wednesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker sent a letter to the College Board voicing his concerns and requesting that the course be maintained in its current form.
In a letter to the College Board, Pritzker urged them to protect students’ “fundamental entitlement to an education that does not follow the political grandstanding of Governor DeSantis and the whims of Republicans in Florida.” “The AP program is well regarded and well-supported in California. Worse still, I read in the news that Governor DeSantis is trying to get the College Board to change the AP African American Studies curriculum so that it complies with Florida’s racist and homophobic laws, and I am quite worried.”
DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement that the Florida Department of Education rejected the African American Studies AP course because it “lacks educational value and historical accuracy.”
“Because it functions as a vehicle for a political goal and provides multiple open-ended spaces that may be filled with extra ideological content, we cannot accept the course in its current form. As Governor DeSantis has pledged, our schools will focus on education rather than indoctrination. ” According to the spokesperson, such is the case.
A spokesman for DeSantis brought up a Florida law that requires all Florida public schools to teach African American history and a list of problems with the curriculum that the state’s department of education found, including the “Reparations Movement,” “Movements for Black Lives,” and “Black Queer Studies.”
The Office of Articulation of the Florida Department of Education communicated with the College Board. It was verified that the following courses could be articulated with this one: “illegal in the state of Florida and served no educational purpose. The FDOE is prepared to continue negotiations at any moment if College Board is prepared to return with legally compliant and factually correct information.”
After the 2024–2025 school year, the AP African American studies pilot program will expire, and the course will be made available to all high schools across the country, as stated on the College Board’s website.
“high school students may anticipate getting an evidence-based introduction to African American studies,” writes the College Board.
In response to concerns raised by the DeSantis administration, the College Board said that the official course format would be made public on February 1.
“On the first day of Black History Month (February 1), the Advanced Placement Program will publish the official course outline for the AP African American Studies course. Developers have been working on this one to replace the preliminary framework for the pilot course since March 2022. ” The College Board issued the following statement on Tuesday.
Griffin took to Twitter to express his joy at the about-face, writing that it was “great news.”
“Wow, that is fantastic news. The College Board will rewrite the curriculum in all 50 states directly because of @GovRonDeSantis’s bold position of placing education before identity politics. The Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL) will review your resubmitted changes for compliance with state law once you have made any necessary adjustments, “Griffin said.