Florida to ‘reevaluate’ relationship with College Board

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis said his administration is exploring other avenues to provide college credit for high school students instead of using the College Board.

“AP is kind of with the College Board. Who elected them? Are there other people that provide services?” DeSantis said during a Tuesday press conference.

“It’s not clear to me that this particular operator [College Board] is the one that’s going to need to be used in the future.”

The College Board is an organization that provides courses for college credit through the Advanced Placement Program, as well as additional college readiness programs. The College Board also created and administered the SAT.

In January, the Florida Department of Education rejected the College Board’s proposed AP African American studies course, citing critical race theory teachings and an “injection of political ideology.”

The Board released its new syllabus for the course that appeared to have been stripped of several of the state’s concerns.

There has been a public back and forth between the state and the College Board over the criticisms of the course.

DeSantis pointed to other services such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge courses where high school students can earn credit, saying they are more rigorous than AP courses.

“So we really believe in Florida, high school students should be able to earn college credits,” DeSantis said.

“Does it have to be done by the College Board? Or can we utilize some of these other providers who I think have a really, really strong track record.”

The governor elaborated on his comments from Monday where he asked lawmakers to reevaluate Florida’s relationship with the College Board.