Conservatives in Florida complained and the College Board caved, narrowing its highly anticipated AP African American Studies curriculum. That was the narrative that emerged earlier this month after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration said it would block the course from Florida high schools because its perspectives on racism and other issues violated state law and were historically inaccurate.
Now, the College Board is defending itself, saying it did not trim the AP African American Studies curriculum based on Florida’s rejection, and that it never even received any formal feedback from state education officials despite making several requests beginning as far back as September 2022. The College Board’s only source of Florida’s concerns with the course was a politically hyperbolic tweet by Education Commissioner Manny Diaz on Jan. 20 that invoked Joe Biden and critical race theory:
Despite the lies from the Biden White House, Florida rejected an AP course filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law. We proudly require the teaching of African American history. We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education. pic.twitter.com/Anw7Ui2JJv
— Manny Diaz Jr. (@SenMannyDiazJr) January 20, 2023
“Four of the six course elements criticized in that tweet were in fact not present in the actual pilot framework we provided you in July 2022,” the College Board said in a letter sent to the Florida Department of Education on Thursday. “The tweet also objected to ‘Black Queer Studies,’ though no such topic appears in the July 2022 pilot course framework.”
The AP African American Studies piloted by schools did not include texts by Angela Davis or bell hooks, or any references to Leslie Kay Jones and Roderick Ferguson—as claimed by Diaz. And contrary to published reports, no Black scholars or authors were removed from the course. “In fact, contemporary scholars and authors are never mandated in any AP framework,” the College Board says. “Instead, the AP Program utilizes our AP Classroom digital library to provide such resources, where teachers are free to assign readings but are not required to do so.”
Finally, the College Board claimed Florida officials never explained what they found “historically fictional” about the AP African American Studies curriculum. “We are confident in the historical accuracy of every topic included in the pilot framework, as well as those now in the official framework,” the College Board said.
More from DA: 3 of K12’s main enrollment problems are unsolved mysteries
The Florida Department of Education claimed earlier this week that it had communicated its complaints to the College Board on multiple occasions. Officials said they sent a memo voicing their concerns in September and met with representatives from the College Board in November, according to published reports.
The College Board also pushed back against critics who accused it of narrowing the AP African American Studies curriculum based on Florida’s threats to bar the course. In fact, one of the goals of AP pilot programs is to reduce the number of potential topics to “a scope and sequence appropriate for teaching and learning in a single academic year,” the College Board attested.
“Many AP courses, especially those based in history and culture, deal with contested topics,” the College Board said. “The AP Program navigates those challenging waters by relying on our AP Principles. These principles make it abundantly clear that we stand against censorship and indoctrination equally.”
