College Board admits to ‘mistakes’ in rollout of AP African American Studies

The College Board admitted on Saturday that it made mistakes in rolling out its new AP African American Studies course, while also accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his administration of “misinformation” and seeking a “political win.”

“There is always debate about the content of a new AP course. That is good and healthy; these courses matter. But the dialogue surrounding AP African American Studies has moved from healthy debate to misinformation,” College Board said in a statement.

“We are proud of this course. But we have made mistakes in the rollout that are being exploited,” the statement continued.

Florida’s Department of Education rejected the new course last month, it “is inexplicably contrary to Florida law” and “significantly lacks educational value.”

College Board then announced that it will update the course and published revisions to the AP class on Feb. 1, inviting sharp criticism over the removal of Black queer studies and Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory from the framework.

College Board sought to address these criticisms on Sunday, saying in a statement that it regretted not immediately “denouncing” DeSantis’ comments that the course “lacks educational value.”

“Our failure to raise our voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field,” the statement read.

The organization also said that it should have clarified that current events — including Black Lives Matter movement, reparations and mass incarceration — were optional. The revised version of the course is an improvement, not a “watering down,” College Board said.

“Our lack of clarity allowed the narrative to arise that political forces had ‘downgraded’ the role of these contemporary movements and debates in the AP class,” the statement read.

The organization also responded to claims that the College Board was in “frequent” dialogue with Florida and other states about the content of the course, and said that those conversations did not influence its decisions.

The statement also said that Florida’s Department of Education was trying to use the revised changes as a “political win,” even though they were not involved in the decision.

“We have made the mistake of treating [Florida Department of Education] with the courtesy we always accord to an education agency, but they have instead exploited this courtesy for their political agenda. After each written or verbal exchange with them, as a matter of professional protocol, we politely thanked them for their feedback and contributions, although they had given none,” the statement reads.

“In Florida’s effort to engineer a political win, they have claimed credit for the specific changes we made to the official framework,” the statement continues.

College Board also condemned Florida for describing key topics in African American history as “fictional.”

“[Florida’s Department of Education] most recent letter continues to deride the field of African American Studies by describing key topics as ‘historically fictional.’ We have asked them what they meant by that accusation, and they have failed to answer,” it said.

“The College Board condemns this uninformed caricature of African American Studies and the harm it does to scholars and students.”