Huckabee Sanders pushes back on criticism after Arkansas removes AP African American studies course

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Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders explains why education is a ‘number one priority’ in her state and responds to the NAACP’s criticism of Arkansas’ removal of AP African American Studies. 

Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders hit back Thursday on "America's Newsroom" after the NAACP criticized her state for removing an Advanced Placement African American Studies course from schools. Huckabee Sanders said the controversial curriculum propagates lies about the country and amounts to left-wing "propaganda" that teaches children to "hate America and hate one another."

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SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: We've got to get back to the basics of teaching math, of teaching, reading, writing and American history. And we cannot perpetuate a lie to our students and push this propaganda leftist agenda, teaching our kids to hate America and hate one another. It's one of the reasons that we put into law banning things like indoctrination and CRT [critical race theory]. We want our kids to receive a quality education, and we want to make sure that every student has access to it and a pathway to prosperity. And that's exactly what we're doing here in the state of Arkansas. 

(Fox News)

ARKANSAS THE LATEST STATE TO REMOVE CONTROVERSIAL AP AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES COURSE FROM SCHOOLS

The Arkansas Department of Education revoked an AP African-American studies pilot program for the 2023-24 school year after it was tested in a few schools the previous school year.

According to the Arkansas Department of Education, there was no exam offered to students during the 2022-2023 school year, and the course "may not articulate into college credit." 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Henning further elaborated how they can't approve of the pilot because it would put state educators at risk of violating state law. 

"The AP African American Studies pilot course is not a history course and is a pilot that is still undergoing major revisions. Arkansas law contains provisions regarding prohibited topics," the department's communications director Alexa Henning said. 

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"Without clarity, we cannot approve a pilot that may unintentionally put a teacher at risk of violating Arkansas law. The state cannot give AP credit for a course that has not yet been finalized. Once the pilot is completed and AP releases the final course, ADE will review the final submission at that time," Henning added. 

Furthermore, Henning said the pilot "may not meet graduation requirements" and does not comply with the rules of the department’s AP program like other vetted history courses.

The Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP said in a statement it was "appalled" at the decision to remove the course, arguing it was done hastily "at the final hour."

Fox News' Joshua Q. Nelson and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report. 

For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion, and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media.

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