Florida’s increasingly strict rules on what can be taught in classrooms have brought about an effective ban on certain Advanced Placement classes.
The College Board, which oversees the AP program, says it was told by the state Thursday that it must exclude any topics relating to gender or sexuality in its AP Psychology program if it wanted the classes to be taught in Florida schools. College Board officials say there’s no way to do so and have advised schools not to offer the program until the restrictions are removed.
“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 College Board wrote in a statement. “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.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is currently campaigning to be the Republican Party’s candidate for president, has enacted a number of controversial changes in the state’s educational curriculum since taking office. His actions, or those implemented by the state’s education department with his blessing, so far include allowing for armed teachers, advocating for new workforce education, and rolling back higher education diversity programs. He has also installed key allies in education posts.
“Because it’s a war on truth, I think we have no choice but to wage a war on woke,” DeSantis said on Fox News earlier this year.
Cassie Palelis, deputy director of communications for the Florida Department of Education, provided a statement to Fortune: “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.”
One of Florida’s most popular classes is gone
The American Psychological Association is backing the College Board, saying any course that excludes the topics of sexuality or gender would violate its guidelines and should be ineligible for college credit.
“Understanding human sexuality is fundamental to psychology, and an advanced placement course that excludes the decades of science studying sexual orientation and gender identity would deprive students of knowledge they will need to succeed in their studies, in high school and beyond,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. “We applaud the College Board for standing up to the state of Florida and its unconscionable demand to censor an educational curriculum and test that were designed by college faculty and experienced AP teachers who ensure that the course and exam reflect the state of the science and college-level expectations.”
The decision regarding AP Psychology courses by the state comes just weeks before the school year is set to begin and upends the schedules of tens of thousands of students who were planning to take the class. It could also impact their chances of getting scholarships and potentially cause them to lose out in placement at the college of their choice.
The state says the International Baccalaureate program and other advanced course providers will offer a psychology course in the state.
AP Psychology has been one of the state’s most popular AP classes, with over 28,000 students taking it in Florida during the past school year.
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from Florida’s Department of Education.]