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College Board Backtracks on Woke AP Curriculum After DeSantis Criticism

Gov. Ron DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis / Getty Images
February 1, 2023

The College Board revised its new Advanced Placement course after Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R.) criticized the curriculum for having woke and inaccurate content.

The College Board released Wednesday the official curriculum for its new high school course in African-American studies, stripped of the controversial critical race theory, "queer experience," and "Black feminism" subject matter that DeSantis slammed earlier this month, the New York Times reported. In a Jan. 12 letter to the College Board, the DeSantis administration rejected the draft curriculum, saying it is "inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."

"In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, [the Florida Department of Education] will always be willing to reopen the discussion," the letter stated.

The revised curriculum removed the topic of Black Lives Matter as well as other CRT sources, the Times reports:

The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum.

And it added something new: "Black conservatism" is now offered as an idea for a research project.

David Coleman, the head of the College Board, defended the revisions, saying they were for "pedagogical reasons, not to bow to political pressure."

Published under: Education , Ron DeSantis