Florida high school students may be able after all to take an Advanced Placement Psychology course that includes topics on sexual orientation and gender identity, which are banned subjects under Florida's strict new education standards.
Florida's education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. reportedly wrote a letter saying he believes the psychology course could be taught "in its entirety," the Guardian reported.
The College Board that develops the advanced placement courses also said it's optimistic the banned content will be included in the course "without fear of punishment," the news outlet reported.
After Florida banned a new AP African American studies course — and prohibited teaching sexual orientation and gender identity issues to students — the College Board had recommended last week the state's school districts refrain entirely from teaching the AP Psychology course.
But word of Diaz's letter Friday signaling a reversal from Florida's initial stance on the psychology course came late Friday, the Guardian noted.
More than 28,000 of the state's students reportedly took AP Psychology last year.
Still, parents and students who rely on the AP courses to get college credits are worried.
"To be fair, we saw the writing on the wall," Brandon Taylor Charpied, whose daughter goes to school in a suburb of Jacksonville, told the Guardian about his daughter's decision against taking the AP psychology course this year.
"It's a very difficult situation for high schools to navigate right now with only days until the school year starts."
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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