Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is reportedly taking high-level Advanced Placement classes at high schools that are now threatening to deny Florida students.
DeSantis was even named “AP US History Student of the Year” as a senior at a high school in Dunedin, Florida, reports the Daily Beast, which obtained a page from the yearbook.
Taking AP courses is especially important for students who want to get into the best universities, where competition for spots is fierce. High AP test scores can also earn you college credit.
In 2020, DeSantis praised AP classes, saying they are a “gateway to success in college, career and ultimately life.”
DeSantis’ AP classes may be critical to his acceptance to Yale University. But he is now threatening to ban the same classes for public school students in his state.
The Republican governor’s ongoing battle over education in Florida is troubling parents. He worries about the deteriorating state of education in connection with DeSantis’ political battle against what he envisions as progressive “woke” instruction. The governor instead aims to cultivate a right-wing perspective in the classroom that includes the war in the course about Black history.
Parents and students fear that the consequences of the governor’s agenda will reduce the chances of Florida students getting into the nation’s top colleges. As a result, some parents are even considering moving out of the country to protect their children’s education, The Washington Post reported earlier this week.
President Joe Biden downplayed DeSantis’ efforts to disrupt education in Florida in a tweet Friday.
DeSantis threatened to block all AP classes in the state earlier this week. He made the threat in a snit after the blast by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in charge of Advanced Placement courses, for “defamation” denigrating – and limiting – the new African American AP course in Florida public schools.