On Thursday, word came that Florida had supposedly "banned" the College Board's course on AP Psychology, according to a statement that was tweeted out by the College Board.
Read our full statement on AP Psychology and Florida: https://t.co/Y0NRrNCwBy pic.twitter.com/1Th1BhGTs8
— College Board (@CollegeBoard) August 3, 2023
It's a lengthy statement, but just by reading the first paragraph, the situation seems clear enough, including who's to blame here.
"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," it read with added emphasis.
So the course is "effectively banned," and it's because certain content "on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law." The statement also admits that districts are free to teach the course if it removes the problematic content, which the College Board claims is essential.
The statement later goes on to acknowledge the College Board's role in the matter as well. "To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements. Therefore, 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," it reads in part.
The Florida Department of Education released a statement about the course being supposedly banned, saying that they did not "ban" the course, also calling to attention the timing of how the school year is just about to begin:
Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course.
The Department didn’t “ban” the course. The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year. We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly.
The other advanced course providers (including the International Baccalaureate program) had no issue providing the college credit psychology course.
Many outlets went with the "effectively banned" phrasing in their headlines, but that doesn't mean the hysteria isn't there.
The pinned tweet for Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) includes a statement that is even more outrageous than that from the College Board. While it takes stabs at Florida and the state's Republican governor Ron DeSantis throughout, the last paragraph is especially ridiculous.
"Sadly, it’s all part of the DeSantis playbook of eroding rights, censoring those he disagrees with and undermining access to knowledge. Just this year, countless educators have been forced to remove or cover up their classroom libraries under threat of sanctions and jail, countless students have lost out because the governor ended AP African American studies, and now this assault on AP psychology," the concluding paragraph claimed. "It’s an unconscionable but far-from-surprising move from an extremist and increasingly unpopular leader who is fast becoming both a national pariah and a global embarrassment."
Meanwhile, Florida ranks number one in education. If Weingarten and the AFT really cared about education, perhaps they'd give some credit where it's due in that remark instead of claiming a sitting governor is "fast becoming both a national pariah and a global embarrassment."
Really Fla Dept of Ed? Censoring science? Disallowing teachers from teaching AP Psychology? This course has been long taught & based on thoughtful standards of human development & identity. Why deny Fla’s young adults access to age appropriate knowledge https://t.co/fX4nD7mMXN
— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩🎓 (@rweingarten) August 3, 2023
Replies to the College Board's tweet also aptly questioned why it is that students need to learn about "sexual orientation and gender identity," especially since it wasn't previously taught in such a way in the past. It's worth noting that Weingarten's response also claimed that "[a] college-level course on psychology that excises a discussion of gender and sexual orientation would be incomplete, inaccurate and unscientific."
I said the same thing about my kids taking AP Psyche just a few years ago. People called me a liar.
— Tanya Berlaga (@TBerlaga) August 4, 2023
"essential topics" - why are you supporting something that leads to massive rises on suicidality and depression
— McHeartattack (@Vico_battista) August 3, 2023
The only context in which radical gender ideology should be taught in AP Psychology, should be in the context of "Clincal Psychology -> Personality Disorders and/or Trauma/Stressor-Related & Dissociative Disorders" or perhaps "Social Psychology" — instead they lump it in with…
— 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖝 🇺🇸 🦅 (@amdrex_) August 4, 2023
The full statement is below:
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 AP course asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.” This element of the framework is not new: gender and sexual orientation have been part of AP Psychology since the course launched 30 years ago.
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.
To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements. Therefore, 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.
We have heard from teachers across Florida who are heartbroken that they are being forced to drop AP and instead teach alternatives that have been deemed legal because the courses exclude these topics.
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.
Similarly, American Council on Education president Ted Mitchell has said: “It strains credulity to believe that our reviewers would certify for college credit a psychology course that didn’t include gender identity.”
The state’s ban of this content removes choice from parents and students. Coming just days from the start of school, it derails the college readiness and affordability plans of tens of thousands of Florida students currently registered for AP Psychology, one of the most popular AP classes in the state. AP is recognized by thousands of colleges and universities across the United States for admissions, scholarships consideration, college credit, and advanced standing. More than 28,000 Florida students took AP Psychology in the 2022-23 academic year.
The AP Program will do all we can do to support schools in their plans for responding to this late change.