College Board hits back at Florida’s initial rejection of AP course in African American studies and admits it made mistakes in rollout

(CNN) – The testing organization behind the new college-level African American Studies course for high school students responds to Florida officials’ comments about the Advanced Placement class, accusing the state Department of Education of “defamation” and spreading misinformation about it for political purposes. growth.

According to a lengthy statement released on Saturday, the College Board also acknowledged that it “made mistakes in deploying” course structures “that are being exploited.” And he disputed how the Florida officials, who asked to resubmit the course after the initial rejection, characterized their dialogue and impact on the nonprofit testing organization.

“There is always debate about the content of the new AP course. This is good and great; these courses matter. But the dialogue around AP’s African-American studies has gone from healthy debate to misinformation,” the statement said, citing the administration of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

“We deeply regret our delay in condemning the Florida Department of Education’s slander, reinforced by subsequent comments by the DeSantis administration, that African-American studies “have no educational value,” the statement said. “Our failure to raise our voice has betrayed black scientists everywhere and those who have long labored to create this wonderful field.”

The College Board’s announcement comes after the Florida Department of Education said the AP African American Studies course “has no educational value” and violates state law amid a nationwide debate over how topics like racism and history are taught in state schools. schools. Under DeSantis, Florida banned the teaching of critical racial theory and passed a new law banning instruction suggesting that someone is in a privileged or oppressed position based on their race or color.

DeSantis said last month that the state is rejecting the course because it is imposing a “political agenda” with a tentative structure that includes the study of “queer theory” and political movements advocating “prison abolition.”

“This is the wrong side of the line for Florida standards,” the governor said at a news conference. “We believe kids should be taught facts and how to think, but we don’t believe they should be forced into an agenda when you try to use black history to push in queer theory, you are clearly trying to use it for political purposes. . ”

On Monday, DeSantis doubled down in response to a reporter’s question about the College Board’s statement.

“Our Department of Education looked at it and said: In Florida, we are in education, not indoctrination, and therefore this is against our standards,” he said at a press conference in Naples. “We were the only ones who had the guts to get up and do it – because they call you names and demagogue when you do it.

“But look, I’m so sick of people not doing the right thing because they’re worried that people are going to call them names. We’re doing what’s right here.”

The state Department of Education had concerns about the six topics of study in the year-long course, such as the Black Life Movement, Black Feminism and Reparations, as previously reported by CNN. Many of the objections centered on the inclusion of texts by contemporary black thinkers and history teachers whose writings the DeSantis administration believes violate state law.

The College Board later released an official course structure that removed many of the topics that DeSantis objected to. According to the official structure, students can study these topics as part of a required research project.

Testing the position of the state on disputes about non-commercial disputes on exchanges

The Florida Department of Education said last week that it met several times and exchanged emails over several months with the college board to discuss the course and was “grateful” for the changes, according to a letter it wrote to the testing organization. The department asked the board to resubmit the class and indicated that it had not yet decided whether to approve it.

However, the College Board denied this characterization of the exchanges, calling it a “false and politically motivated accusation,” according to a statement on Saturday.

“In Florida’s efforts to achieve a political victory, they have taken responsibility for the specific changes we have made to the official structure,” the College Board said. “In their letter to us dated February 7, 2023, which they leaked to the media a few hours after sending, Florida expresses gratitude for the removal of 19 topics, none of which they ever asked us to remove, and most of which remain in the official framework. “.

The College Board reached out to Florida officials for details about how the proposed course structure violated state law, but received none of that information in subsequent phone calls to the department, the testing organization said.

“These phone calls with the FDOE were meaningless, despite the brash claims of influence the FDOE is now making,” the College Board said in a statement. “During the discussion, they did not offer feedback, but instead asked vague, uninformed questions, such as: “What does the word ‘intersectionality’ mean?” and “Does the Black Panther mindset advance the course?”

“We have not had any discussions about the content of this course with Florida or any other state and have not received any requests, suggestions or feedback,” the statement said.

DeSantis said Monday that after the debate, Florida’s relationship with the College Board, which also administers SAT college entrance exams, could change.

“I think the legislature is going to re-evaluate, sort of, how Florida” selects providers for college credit courses, he said. “Of course, our universities may or may not accept College Board courses on loan, and they may offer other courses.

“And then also whether our universities take the SAT or the ACT. I think they do both, but we’re going to evaluate how the whole process goes. But in the end, we singled out things that were very problematic.”

College Board Admits Mistakes

The College Board stressed that its commitment to AP African American Studies is “unwavering” and acknowledged it should have spoken out earlier to rebut Florida officials’ claims, it said in a statement.

The college board also had to make it clear that the course structure is a sketch to be filled with research papers and video lectures, the report said. “This mistake sparked a conversation about erasing or eliminating black thinkers. The vitriol directed against these scientists is disgusting and must stop,” the non-profit organization said.

The statement praises the work of teachers and students who participated in piloting the course, noting that teachers in some states have more leeway in their studies than others.

“But we must counter allegations that teachers in restricted states are not doing exceptional work with their students, exposing them to so much and preparing them for so much more,” the statement said.

“By filling the course with concrete examples of the discipline’s foundational concepts, we have empowered teachers to teach core content without putting their livelihoods at risk.”

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