Florida students to file lawsuit against DeSantis over AP African American course
Cami Mondeaux
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A group of high school students is preparing to file a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his decision to block an Advanced Placement class on black studies from being taught in Florida schools.
The lawsuit will be led by civil rights attorney Ben Crump on behalf of three AP honors high school students, and it will be announced during a press conference at the state Capitol building at about noon on Wednesday. It’s not yet clear what allegations the lawsuit will bring forth because it has not yet been filed.
‘EDUCATION NOT INDOCTRINATION’: DESANTIS DEFENDS CHOICE TO BAN AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES CLASS
DeSantis is claiming the class is part of a “political agenda on the wrong side of the line.” In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner last week, the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Articulation went further, arguing the course lacked “educational value” and therefore violated state law.
“If the course comes into compliance and incorporates historically accurate content, the Department will reopen the discussion,” said Education Department press secretary Cassie Palelis.
The College Board first unveiled the black studies course last year, offering it as a pilot program to 60 select schools during the 2022-23 school year. The board plans to make the course available to all U.S. schools for the 2024-25 school year, with the first exam to be held in the spring of 2025.
Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones criticized DeSantis’s decision to exclude the course from state schools, citing several AP classes that are available, such as AP European History, Art History, Japanese, German, Italian, and Spanish Language and Culture.
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“It’s crazy how AP African-American studies made the chopping block in FL,” Jones wrote in a tweet. “This political extremism and its attack of Black History and Black people, is going to create an entire generation of Black children who won’t be able to see themselves reflected at all within their own education or in their own State.”
Shevrin is expected to attend the press briefing on Wednesday when the lawsuit will be announced.