College Board rejects Florida's request to ‘audit, modify’ AP courses on gender identity, sexual orientation

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AP's College Board blasts New York Times report on revised African American Studies course

The College Board complained a New York Times report linking Ron DeSantis' comments to changes made to the course was not accurate.

The College Board released a statement on Thursday revealing it rejected the Florida Department of Education's [DOE] request to modify "gender identity and sexual orientation" content in an Advanced Placement [AP] Psychology course.

Educators have been raising questions on how the AP Program would respond to Florida's education law, according to the statement.

The College Board explained further in its statement that the Florida Department of Education Office of Articulation "recently requested" that they "audit and potentially modify AP courses relative to the new Florida laws that restrict classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity." 

The College Board responded to the DOE saying, "[College Board] will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics. Doing so would break the fundamental promise of AP: colleges wouldn’t broadly accept that course for credit and that course wouldn’t prepare students for careers in the discipline."

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., speaks at a news conference at Crooms Academy of Information Technology on June 30, 2022, in Sanford, Florida. (Orlando Sentinel via Getty Images)

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"The learning objective within AP Psychology that covers gender and sexual orientation has specifically been raised by some Florida districts relative to these recent regulations. That learning objective must remain a required topic, just as it has been in Florida for many years. As with all AP courses, required topics must be included for a course to be designated as AP."

The law that the College Board cited is DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education law, which was passed last year and prevents classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in K-12th grade. 

The controversial education law has been mislabeled the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by critics who falsely claim it bans any discussion pertaining to being gay in the state's schools. 

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Furthermore, the American Psychological Association defended the content arguing that "topics of gender and sexual orientation are foundational for any college-level course in psychology."

"We don’t know if the state of Florida will ban this course. To AP teachers in Florida, we are heartbroken by the possibility of Florida students being denied the opportunity to participate in this or any AP course," a statement reads. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' controversial education law has been called the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by critics who falsely claim it bans any discussion pertaining to being gay in the state's schools.  (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)

"To AP teachers everywhere, please know we will not modify any of the 40 AP courses—from art to history to science—in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness."

The AP Psychology course discusses "gender and sexual orientation" under unit 6, "Developmental Psychology."

The Florida DOE sent College Board a letter on May 19, instructing it to "immediately conduct a thorough review" of all College Board courses, which includes the Advanced Placement and Pre-Advanced Placement courses, and then inform the Office of Articulation, by June 16, 2023.

Florida DOE "implored" the College Board to review the courses since some of the courses may contain subject matter that violates the State Board of Education rule and Florida law.

"The Department is developing an assurance document for the College Board to complete indicating that College Board courses are in compliance with State Board of Education rule and Florida law," the letter reads.

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The College Board’s statement also acknowledged their previous controversy with content in an AP African-American studies course.

"We have learned from our mistakes in the recent rollout of AP African American Studies and know that we must be clear from the outset where we stand."

The College Board responded saying that changing course topics on gender and sexual orientation would lead to college's rejecting the course for credit (Izabela Habur)

Back in January, the College Board had announced plans to update the AP African American studies course due to having content that did not meet state standards. 

The course cut much of the content associated with Black Lives Matter, the queer experience, and other controversial issues that prompted the Florida DOE to reject it from being taught in Florida schools.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Florida DOE for comment. A spokesperson responded, "The College Board is responsible for ensuring that their submitted materials comply with Florida law. It is worth noting that College Board does not maintain a reliable position and is susceptible to outside influence by the mainstream media and political activists, shown here."

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Fox News' Taylor Penley and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.