Ron DeSantis said Florida is going to reevaluate the state’s relationship with the College Board after accusing it of ‘shoving down our throats’ their woke agenda.
The Florida governor continued his attack against liberal education systems, by suggesting the legislature could cut-off its reliance on the nonprofit College Board, which develops and administers standardized tests to promote college-readiness.
Speaking from Florida Southwestern State College, DeSantis railed against the board putting ‘queer theory’ and ‘intersectionality’ into a proposed advanced placement (AP) courses on African American studies, which led the state’s Department of Education (DOE) to reject the courses.
‘At the end of the day, we highlighted things that were very problematic,’ DeSantis replied to reporters during a Monday press conference. ‘It wasn’t just people like me saying that – across the political spectrum, people were saying that.’
‘You know, this really is junk,’ he added. ‘Why don’t we just do and teach the things that matter? Why is it always someone has to try and shove their agenda down our throats?’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his state’s Department of Education is reevaluating the relationship with the nonprofit College Board after it put wording into an African American Studies course that talked about ‘queer theory’ and ‘intersectionality’
Florida’s so-called Stop WOKE Act restricts certain race-related content in workplaces, schools and colleges, including controversial Critical Race Theory. DeSantis’ 2021 statement on the passage of the law noted that some of these lessons teach ‘kids to hate our country or to hate each other.’
DeSantis put the onus on the College Board, claiming Florida’s DOE had no choice but to reject the courses because of some of the content within them that he claims is ‘neo-Marxist.’
The College Board responded to DeSantis’ criticism of the programs, claiming in an open letter last week that it did not receive requested feedback on why the courses were rejected.
A letter from Florida’s DOE to the College Board characterized the topics as ‘historically fictional,’ which the board classified as ‘slander.’
DeSantis questioned what authority the College Board really has when saying his state would evaluate the relationship the Florida school system has with the nonprofit based in New York.
‘I would also just say – this College Board, nobody elected them to anything,’ DeSantis lamented. ‘They’re just kind of there, and they’re providing service. So you can either utilize those services or not.’
‘And so they’ve provided these AP courses for a long time, but, you know, there are probably some other vendors who may be able to do that job as good, or maybe even a lot better,’ the Florida governor theorized. ‘I think the legislature is going to look to reevaluate how Florida’s doing that. Of course, our universities can or can’t accept college board courses for credit, maybe they’ll do others.’
Education is a cornerstone of DeSantis’ anti-woke agenda. He signed the Parental Rights in Education law last year, which prevents the teaching of gender identity or sexual orientation in grades kindergarten through third grade. Some members of the Florida legislature are considering expanding that to the sixth grade.
DeSantis questioned at a Monday press conference: ‘Why don’t we just do and teach the things that matter? Why is it always someone has to try and shove their agenda down our throats?’ Pictured: Students protests in Sarasota, Florida saying schools are too focused on racial and genera ideology
DeSantis’ DOE rejected the course in a January 12 letter, which was obtained by ABC News.
He called the courses ‘inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.’
In his press conference Monday, DeSantis blamed the College Board for trying to slip woke agenda items into classes on African American studies.
‘The college board was the one that in a black studies course put ‘queer theory’ in, not us – they did that,’ DeSantis said. ‘They were the ones that put in ‘intersectionality,’ they put in other types of neo-Marxism into the proposed syllabus.’
‘And again, this is the proposed course, so our Department of Education looked at that and said, ‘In Florida we do education, not indoctrination. And so that runs afoul of our standards,’ he added.
‘And, you know, many people agree with that in other states, we were just the only ones that had, you know, the backbone to stand up and do it because they call you names and they demagogue you when you do it.’
‘I’m so sick of people not doing what’s right because they’re worried that people are going to call them names. We’re doing what’s right here,’ DeSantis assured.
