The College Board, which oversees AP classes, released curriculum materials Wednesday for the expansion of an African American studies course to hundreds of additional high schools in the next academic year.
College Board officials said developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including several historically Black institutions.
Earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration blocked Florida high schools from offering the course. The rejection stirred new political debate over how schools teach about race.
Three Florida high school students plan to sue the state if it doesn’t reverse the ban.
RELATED: Black history AP class rejected in Florida catches on
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he plans to file the lawsuit against DeSantis on the students’ behalf if the course is not offered.
The state education department rejected the program in a letter earlier this month to the College Board. It said the content of the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”
DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he was blocking the course in Florida because it pushes a political agenda and violates state law.
“In the state of Florida, our education standards not only don’t prevent, but they require teaching Black history, all the important things. That’s part of our core curriculum,” DeSantis said at a news conference last week. “We want education and not indoctrination.”
In a written statement Wednesday, College Board CEO David Coleman said the course is “an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture.”
“No one is excluded from this course: the Black artists and inventors whose achievements have come to light; the Black women and men, including gay Americans, who played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights movements; and people of faith from all backgrounds who contributed to the antislavery and Civil Rights causes. Everyone is seen,” he said.
The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are optional. Taught at a college level, students who score high enough on the final exam usually earn course credit at their university.
The African American studies course is divided into four units: origins of the African diaspora; freedom, enslavement and resistance; the practice of freedom; and movements and debates.
Harvard Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad is one of 200 professors from around the nation who penned an open letter in defense of AP African American studies.
The letter reads, “Contrary to DeSantis’s claims of promoting freedom in education, he is suppressing learning in his state and limiting the freedom of Florida students to choose what they can learn. He is destroying core educational principles.”
Muhammad said not offering this course would take education away from students.
″It’s a powerful signal that Florida doesn’t take education as seriously as other places,” he said.
The rejection follows efforts by DeSantis to now remove DEI programs from state colleges and universities.
Prior to that, the governor overhauled Florida’s curriculum by eliminating critical race theory.
In 2021, the state banned teaching the concept, and last year, DeSantis signed a bill restricting how schools can talk about race with students.
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College Board releases new framework for AP African American studies course - WJXT News4JAX
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