(CN) — As the school year begins this week, some Florida school districts will not offer Advanced Placement Psychology classes over fears the educational content could violate state laws prohibiting the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation.
Concerns over the course flared up last week after the College Board, which oversees AP exams, told superintendents the newly expanded Parental Rights in Education Act would censor aspects of the class that deals with “how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.”
To leave out those topics, the College Board said in a statement on Thursday, would risk students not receiving college credit for the course.
“To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” the College Board said. “Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course.”
The next day, Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. sent a letter to superintendents stressing that the agency is not “discouraging districts from teaching AP Psychology.”
“In fact, the department believes that 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.
But some of the largest school districts in the state have already pivoted to other options, because they have not received guidance on what is “age- and developmentally appropriate” and do not want to risk students not receiving college credit.
“In essence, if we don’t teach all of the content, our students will not receive AP credit,” a Brevard County Public Schools spokesperson said. “If we do teach all of the content, our instructors will violate the law. Therefore, we will not offer AP Psychology at any of our high schools this year.”
Instead the district will move to the International Baccalaureate program, which still offers college credit.
School officials in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, some of the biggest districts in the state, have decided to switch over to the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education Psychology course, which also offers college credit.
“Continuing to offer AP Psychology would put nearly 1,300 PCS students in jeopardy of working toward college credit that would not be validated at the end of the school year,” the Pinellas County School District said. “While the timing of this change is not ideal, this shift to Cambridge AICE Psychology will ensure our students have the opportunity to earn college credit.”
Two other large districts, Miami-Dade and Broward, have not yet made a decision on the course.
The education department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Over 28,000 students took the AP Psychology class last year, according to the College Board, making it one of the more popular courses in the state.
The dispute over course content stems from the Parental Rights in Education Act, known more commonly as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, first signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in March 2022 that bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity topics from kindergarten through third grade. This year, that law was expanded to prohibit such instruction through 12th grade.
Teachers who violate the law could lose their teaching licenses and school districts can face lawsuits from individual parents.
DeSantis, who is currently running for the Republican nomination for president, has made the fight against “wokeness” a centerpiece of his campaign. Earlier this year the state rejected an AP class covering African American studies because the course violated the “Stop WOKE” Act, which restricts how race can be taught in schools.
At a January press conference, DeSantis called the course “indoctrination.”
Despite the switch to other curriculum, teacher advocates are calling on the Florida Department of Education to clarify its position on AP Psychology.
“This is a slippery slope,” said Florida PTA President Carolyn Nelson-Goedert. “In many Florida school districts, the status of AP Psychology remains in doubt, and many are wondering which course or course component might be next on the chopping block.”
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