College Board Announces Florida Law Will Render AP Psychology Course Illegal

To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements. Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course.”

College Board

The College Board announced Thursday that Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act has rendered its AP Psychology course illegal in Florida public schools.

“We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law,” said a statement released by College Board. “The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics.”

The bill, which became a controversial topic nationally when Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law in March of last year, prohibits “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity.”

According to College Board, the AP Psychology course requirements include describing the influence of sex and gender on socialization and human development.

“This element of the framework is not new: gender and sexual orientation have been part of AP Psychology since the course launched 30 years ago,” said College Board’s statement.

The American Psychological Association, or APA, released a statement in June that supports College Board’s stance, claiming an understanding of sexuality and gender orientation is “fundamental to psychology.”

Supporters of the “Don’t Say Gay” law argue it protects the rights of parents, such as former Republican state Rep. Joe Harding, who introduced the bill and claimed it keeps parents “in the know and involved on what’s going on” in an interview with TIME in February of 2022. Harding resigned his seat later that year after a Federal indictment on wire fraud charges, which he was found guilty of in March.

The Florida Department of Education maintains that they have not banned AP Psychology in the state. Cassie Palelis, a spokesperson for the FDOE, said that College Board is “playing games” with Florida students, aiming to “force school districts” to stop offering the course.

“Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course,” said Palelis in a statement. “The Department didn’t ‘ban’ the course. The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year.”

When asked about the course on the campaign trail Friday, Governor DeSantis denied that he or the FDOE had banned the course, saying it remains in the state’s course catalog.

College Board maintained in their statement that they “cannot modify AP Psychology” and that “any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts.” The board argued that by changing the course material it would amount to censoring content necessary to the course carrying college credit.

“To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” said the statement. “Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course.”

According to College Board, AP Psychology is their sixth most popular out of 38 courses, with almost 28,000 Florida students sitting for the AP Psychology exam in 2023.

Editor's note: This decision was reversed after this story's publication. See the link below.

Upate: APA gratified that Florida Department of Education will allow teaching of full AP Psychology course