DeSantis bans African-American Studies class, 'no educational value'
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Advanced Placement courses allow students the chance to earn college credits in subjects such as chemistry and English before actually joining college.
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Florida governor Ron DeSantis speaks during an election night watch party in Florida in November 2022 (AFP)
An advanced placement (AP) course specializing in African-American studies has been blocked from high school curricula by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor - with the justification that it violates state law and offers no "educational value”.
The decision was penned in a letter on January 12 from the state education department sent to the College Board, known as the organization that oversees college readiness exams such as the SATs, and for that reason, advanced placement (AP) courses as well.
AP courses allow students the chance to earn college credits in subjects such as chemistry and English before actually joining college.
The letter included the Florida education department's excuse as being that the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value”.
The Stop Woke Act
This comes less than a year after the College Board launched a program to “offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies,” due to start in schools across the US during the 2022-23 academic year and has already been tested at 60 schools.
In a statement, the College Board wrote: “Like all new AP courses, AP African American Studies is undergoing a rigorous, multiyear pilot phase, collecting feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers,”
“The process of piloting and revising course frameworks is a standard part of any new AP course and frameworks often change significantly as a result,” the statement added.
It may also be part of his campaign against educational programs in schools that benefit his conservative views more. For example, in April 2022, he signed the Stop Woke Act, limiting “race-based” discussions at schools strictly.
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The Act is also referred to as the Individual Freedom Act, besides the Stop-Woke (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, prohibiting educational institutions from teaching anything that would instill "guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress” due to their race, color, sex or national origin.
“No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race,” DeSantis said in April, adding, “In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”
The governor has also launched a campaign against Critical Race Theory, which is a framework of legal analysis examining the ways in which racism is socially constructed and intrinsic in the foundation of the US' social, economic and legal foundations.
