Laura Meckler, The Washington Post; Florida schools drop AP Psychology after state says it violates the law
"Large school districts across Florida are dropping plans to offer Advanced Placement Psychology, heeding a warning from state officials that the course’s discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity violates state law...
The conflict stems from Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed by opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill, which outlaws classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. In April, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Education Department expanded the prohibition to include all grades. Teachers who violate the ban could see their teaching licenses suspended or revoked.
The AP Psychology course asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.” The College Board said this element of the class had been present since the course was launched in 1993. Florida schools have offered the class every year since then, an official said.
It’s just one in a string of curriculum and book battles raging across Florida as the state seeks to limit student exposure to certain lessons around race and gender...
On Friday, after meeting with superintendents, Diaz wrote them to say he was not banning or even discouraging schools from offering the AP Psychology course. He had told them the same thing a day earlier, while also cautioning against violating state law."
