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Tags: ron desantis | college board | ap | courses | agenda

Gov. DeSantis Hints at Doing Away With AP Courses in Florida

Ron DeSantis
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

By    |   Monday, 13 February 2023 01:42 PM EST

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he wants to reevaluate the state's relationship with the College Board.

Earlier this month, the College Board revised its new Advanced Placement (AP) high school course on African American studies after DeSantis said it was based on a "political agenda."

During a press conference in Naples, Florida, on Monday, DeSantis hinted at doing away with AP courses in the state.

"This College Board, like, nobody elected them to anything," DeSantis said, the Tampa Bay Times reported. "They are just kind of there, and they provide a service and so you can either utilize those services or not."

The governor added that although the College Board has had a long relationship with Florida, "there are probably other vendors who may be able to do that job as good or maybe even a lot better," the Times reported.

DeSantis said he has started discussing the matter with fellow Republican and state House Speaker Paul Renner.

"I've already talked to Paul and I think the Legislature is going to look to evaluate how Florida is doing that," DeSantis said, the Times reported. "Of course, our universities can or can't accept College Board courses for credit, maybe they'll do others. And then also just whether our universities do the SAT versus the ACT. I think they do both but we are going to evaluate how the process goes."

The Sunshine State pays for students to take AP exams, and provides bonuses to teachers whose students perform well.

The College Board also administers the SAT exam, which students use to help them complete graduation testing requirements and earn entry into universities.

The Times reported that students can take the ACT exam instead of the SAT. Those students seeking advanced courses leading to college credits have International Baccalaureate, Cambridge Programme and dual enrollment classes available.

During a January press conference, DeSantis said the state blocked a new AP course on African American studies because it was based on a "political agenda" focusing on "indoctrination" and not "education."

"We want education, not indoctrination," DeSantis said. "If you fall on the side of indoctrination, we're going to decline."

After hearing about the specifics of the AP course, DeSantis said it went way beyond not meeting the state's standards.

"What's one of the lessons about? Queer theory," he said. "Now who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids."

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Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he wants to reevaluate the state's relationship with the College Board.
ron desantis, college board, ap, courses, agenda
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2023-42-13
Monday, 13 February 2023 01:42 PM
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