College Board: Florida ‘effectively banned AP psychology’ in state

The College Board released a statement saying the state of Florida has “effectively banned AP Psychology in the state.” The board took issue with the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act, which restricts the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in the state’s classrooms.

“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,” the College Board said in its 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 Department of Education spokesperson Cassandra Palelis denied that the state had banned the AP psychology course. She did not respond to a question about whether the state had advised superintendents that the course violated state law.

“Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course,” Palelis said. “We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly.”

According to the Straight Arrow News Media Miss™ tool, this story is a Media Miss for the right. The Media Landscape indicates that while left-leaning and center-oriented outlets are covering this story, fewer right-leaning outlets are reporting on the topic.

The back-and-forth between Florida and the College Board over AP psychology comes after Florida blocked the AP African American studies course. The Department of Education said the classes “lacked educational value” and violated a state law that bans the teaching of critical race theory.

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