DeSantis administration blocks AP African American Studies course from school curriculum

Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis
‘s administration has blocked the inclusion of an Advanced Placement class centered on
African American
Studies in
high schools
.

The Washington Examiner obtained a letter from the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Articulation to the College Board stating that the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” The letter did not elaborate on what particular parts of the course content they found to be questionable.

JUDGE TOSSES OUT PART OF DESANTIS’S STOP WOKE ACT, CITES 1984 NOVEL

“If the course comes into compliance and incorporates historically accurate content, the Department will reopen the discussion,” Florida Education Department Press Secretary Cassie Palelis said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

This is a significant win for DeSantis, who had several portions of his
Stop WOKE Act
that would restrict critical race theory instruction in public university classrooms scrapped. Judge Mark Walker, who struck it down, compared the legislation to George Orwell’s authoritarian dystopian novel,1984.

In 2021, Florida enacted a law that banned teaching critical race theory, a catch-all term for lessons and policies that encourage children to see themselves and others almost exclusively through the lens of race, as well as the 1619 Project, a New York Times project that reframed American history around the arrival of slaves in America.

The College Board unveiled plans to offer the African American studies course last year and is being piloted in 60 schools during the 2022-2023 school year. The board’s goal is to have the course in all U.S. schools for the 2024-2025 school year, with the first exam to take place in spring 2025, per the
website
.

The AP course organization did not address the Florida decision directly, but said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the African American Studies course, like all classes, will collect feedback from students, teachers, and policymakers while going through its multi-year pilot program.

“We look forward to bringing this rich and inspiring exploration of African-American history and culture to students across the country,” the board said.

Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday pointing out several AP classes that are taught at schools across the country, including AP European History, AP Art History, and AP Japanese, German, Italian, and Spanish Language & Culture.

“It’s crazy how AP African-American studies made the chopping block in FL,” he wrote.

In another post, he equated the administration’s decision to “political extremism.”

“Its attack of Black History and Black people, is going to create an entire generation of Black children who won’t be able to see themselves reflected at all within their own education or in their own State,” Jones wrote.

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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Education’s Office of Articulation for comment.