Florida caves & allows AP Psychology class in humiliating defeat for DeSantis administration

Florida Education Commission Manny Diaz Jr. told schools in the state to teach Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology “in its entirety” after the state tried to ban the class in order to get the College Board, which develops AP curricula and administers AP tests, to remove LGBTQ+ topics from the course.

Last week, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) banned the AP Psychology class from being taught in the state, citing its Don’t Say Gay law because AP Psychology includes topics on sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBTQ+ topics have been included in the course since it was launched 30 years ago. The College Board refused to create a censored version of the course – and the subsequent test – for the state of Florida.

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“We cannot modify AP Psychology in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness,” the College Board said in a statement. “Our policy remains unchanged. Any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts.”

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The FLDOE accused the College Board of “playing games” by shutting down the course just one week before the start of the school year and not altering the course to comply with state law.

But now that classes are set to start in the state, Diaz wrote in a letter this past Friday that schools should teach it according to the College Board’s standards.

“The department believes AP Psychology can be taught in its entirety in a manner that is age and developmentally appropriate and the course remains listed in our course catalog,” Diaz wrote. “College Board has suggested that it might withhold the ‘AP’ designation from this course in Florida, ultimately hurting Florida students. This is especially concerning given that the new school year begins in a week.”

“We hope now that Florida teachers will be able to teach the full course, including content on gender and sexual orientation, without fear of punishment in the upcoming school year,” the College Board said in a statement following Diaz’s letter.

The Don’t Say Gay law was expanded earlier this year to include all grade levels in Florida and ban schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity under the premise that it’s inappropriate for even older teen students to hear about LGBTQ+ people in school. AP Psychology is usually taken as a junior or senior year class in high school, and sexuality and gender are important parts of the field of psychology.

Last year, DeSantis signed the Individual Freedoms Act (known as the Stop WOKE Act), which limits how racial and LGBTQ+ issues are taught in public schools, public universities, colleges, and workplace training. A judge blocked parts of the law from going into effect in November 2022, calling it “positively dystopian.”

Earlier this year, the College Board made changes to its AP African American Studies course after DeSantis complained about the course’s “indoctrination” and “queer” agenda; specifically its sections covering queer theory, intersectionality, and prison abolition.