Ron DeSantis Replacing College Board
In response to College Boards new Advanced Placement course, African American History Governor Ron DeSantis has set to find a College Board alternative. This cuts off Florida students’ access to AP courses and the SAT.
In response to College Board’s new AP African American History course, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has set out to find a College Board alternative. Stating that College Board is simply “Providing a service,” later adding, “…there are probably some other vendors who may be able to do that job as good or maybe even a lot better”.
Sophomore Carmen Rivera believes that replacing the College Board would leave Florida students at a disadvantage.
“I do think it’s a disadvantage because it affects how colleges see us, and if students don’t display an impressive array of academics through the AP College Board classes, then they risk losing their spot to a student from another state who took such AP courses.”
In 2021 Florida was second in the nation in the percentage of high school graduates who had passed at least one AP exam. The rate of Florida’s AP students was one of DeSantis’s main points of how Florida continues to make “great strides” in education. The removal of AP classes will have a significant effect on the large number of Florida students that take AP courses.
In addition to the change in AP classes, DeSantis is also set to find an SAT alternative. Regarding the SAT, DeSantis has found an education testing company that focuses on “great classical and Christian tradition,” formally called the Classical Learning Test. This test was made to be an alternative to the SAT, which Co-founder of the company Jeremy Tate says has become “Increasingly Ideological” mainly because it has censored Catholic-Christian thought. While DeSantis has not confirmed his use of the Classical Learning Test as an SAT alternative, Florida Department of Education Senior Chancellor Henry Mack has publicly posted his support and interest in the Classical Learning Test in a Twitter post stating “offers the opportunity for all our colleges & universities to right size their priorities.”.
During an interview, DeSantis reasoned that using a College Board alternative would, in fact, not put Florida students behind or limit their opportunities. However, out of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States, only around 200 accept the CLT (Christian Learning Test) that DeSantis is trying to replace the SAT with. All of which are private or religious schools.
Sophomore Ethan Morgan states, “It doesn’t make sense that a single religion should be used as a test for a population as there is no longer a separation of church and state” Morgan added, “It also practically takes away religious freedom from people who want to practice their own religion.”
The CLT is a test based on “Classical literature and historical texts,” including the writings of Shakespeare, Aristotle, and many more. Additionally, the CLT is considered a Christian test, primarily used and accepted by small religious schools. While 70% of Floridians are Christian, a traditionally Christian test could be a severe disadvantage for all Florida students practicing and following other religions.
Co-founder of the Classical Learning Test, Jeremy Wayne Tate, has taken to social media, stating on Twitter “We test a student’s ability to read something they disagree with without having a meltdown.” He defended the CLT, also noting that “The difference between CLT and College Board is that they censor people of faith” adding that the CLT does not.
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