Florida Creates New Conservative US History Course as Alternative to AP |
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Florida has released a new U.S. History course for high school students that aims to provide a conservative alternative to Advanced Placement courses — the latest attack on public education in the state by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Though students across the country take Advanced Placement courses for college credit — with over half a million U.S. high school students doing so last year — Florida is now developing an alternative, state-based framework called the Florida Advanced Courses and Tests (FACT). These courses can provide students with college credit in Florida colleges and universities.
Over the last three years, DeSantis and his administration have railed against Advanced Placement courses, arguing that academic exploration of racism and inequality in U.S. history pushes a “woke” political agenda. In a statement on the new U.S. history course, the Florida Department of Education wrote that FACT courses “are designed to provide alternatives to existing options like Advanced Placement that consistently embed Critical Race Theory and DEI into materials.” In reality, critical race theory is a legal framework that is predominantly taught in law schools, not Advanced Placement courses for high school students.
Ryan Petty, DeSantis’s appointed chair of the Florida State Board of Education, said the “FACT U.S. History framework provides a thorough and balanced study of our nation’s past” and “represents an important step toward restoring academic integrity in the classroom after years of uneven and, at times, ideologically driven instruction.”
But the U.S. History course, which will begin in the fall, will put forward a specifically........