College Board refuses to modify courses to comply with Florida’s restrictions on sexual orientation, gender-identity instruction in K-12 classrooms

The College Board, a nonprofit that oversees Advanced Placement and SAT courses, recently announced that it would not modify its courses to comply with Florida’s new law restricting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms.

On May 19, the Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the College Board, urging the organization to audit and potentially alter its AP courses to adhere to Florida state laws.

A copy of the letter, obtained by the College Fix, explained that Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The law carves out exceptions for instruction required by state academic standards and reproductive health classes.

“If such instruction is provided in grades 9 through 12, the instruction must be in a manner that is age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students,” the letter stated.

The bill, signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on May 17, will go into effect on July 1.

The Florida Department of Education implored the College Board to “conduct a thorough review of all” of its courses by June 16.

“Some courses may contain content or topics prohibited by State Board of Education rule and Florida law,” therefore may need to be modified, the department’s letter explained.

The College Board replied to the Florida Department of Education’s letter a day before the requested due date, stating that it “will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics.”

In January, the College Board rolled out a new “African American Studies” course that was rejected by DeSantis, who called it “indoctrination” for including queer theory.

“Now, who would say an important part of black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids,” DeSantis stated.

In response to the pushback, the College Board announced that it would release a new version of the course.

In the College Board’s press release responding to Florida’s request to review its courses, the board acknowledged its former mistakes.

“We have learned from our mistakes in the recent rollout of AP African American Studies and know that we must be clear from the outset where we stand,” the board stated.

The board claimed that modifying any of its 40 courses would cause colleges to reject the course credits.

“The learning objective within AP Psychology that covers gender and sexual orientation has specifically been raised by some Florida districts relative to these recent regulations. That learning objective must remain a required topic, just as it has been in Florida for many years,” the College Board stated.

The board said it is “heartbroken by the possibility of Florida students being denied the opportunity to participate in this or any AP course.”

The College Board noted that it “opposes both censorship and indoctrination,” adding that participation in AP courses is optional.

“Families can review AP course content and make informed decisions about whether they want their students to participate,” the College Board said.

The Florida Department of Education told Fox News Digital, “The College Board is responsible for ensuring that their submitted materials comply with Florida law. It is worth noting that College Board does not maintain a reliable position and is susceptible to outside influence by the mainstream media and political activists, shown here.”

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