JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida’s feud with the College Board continues to escalate, with the Governor confirming the state could do away with AP courses for high school students Tuesday.
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“The question is, is AP is kind of with the College Board. Who elected them? Are there other people that provide services? It turns out there are,” DeSantis said.
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DeSantis said he hopes the state continues to expand opportunities to earn college credit in high school through Dual Enrollment, IB and Cambridge programs.
“But it’s not clear to me that this particular operator is the one that’s gonna need to be used in the future,” DeSantis said.
The state’s feud with the College Board began with the state rejecting a new AP African American Studies course earlier this year over objections to the inclusion of sections on Black Lives Matter and Black Queer Studies.
Those topics were not included in the final course syllabus released on Feb. 1st, spurring a back and forth between the state and College Board over whether Florida’s objections resulted in the change.
“Why would we put a competitive disadvantage to the students of the State of Florida because the Governor is having a political spat?” Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association, said.
Spar argued even if there are other options available, the state shouldn’t limit opportunities for students.
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“If you want to be at one high school because they have a program you really like but want to have advanced placement classes, that’s what AP is all about. They may not have an IB program, they may not have a Cambridge program and you may not want to do that because it might not allow you to be in the other program,” Spar said.