Florida colleges effectively halts woke AP Psychology over content ban
The College Board announced on Thursday that AP Psychology, a popular course in Florida schools, must halt due to certain content being "effectively banned."
The directive from the Florida Department of Education states that this course may only continue if the curriculum omits sections related to gender identity and sexual orientation, Fox News reports.
"We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law. The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics," the College Board said in a statement.
The organization added: "We advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course."
The College Board further clarified that it cannot exclude specific topics as suggested by the state, as this would contravene "college requirements."
"As we shared in June, we cannot modify AP Psychology in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness. Our policy remains unchanged. Any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts," the statement read.
"The American Psychological Association recently reaffirmed that any course that excludes these topics would violate their guidelines and should not be considered for college credit. The APA has given this direct guidance to organizations that have agreed to this censorship," it added. "To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements."
Read our full statement on AP Psychology and Florida: https://t.co/Y0NRrNCwBy pic.twitter.com/1Th1BhGTs8
— College Board (@CollegeBoard) August 3, 2023
Last year, Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, passed a law that effectively prohibited certain teachings in every school in the state. He achieved this through the implementation of the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which disallowed discussions concerning sexual orientation and gender identity within the educational environment.

Ian Miles Cheong
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